New Brunswick optician proves he has an eye for industrial art

An optician from Moncton who makes eye glasses for a living is proving he also has an eye for industrial art.

With plumbing pipes hanging overhead in his basement workshop, Sathe Zarei is turning another kind of cold, industrial gas piping into works of art with a personality.

“My whole life, I have been into fine arts, drawing and painting since I was very young” said Zarei, who is from Sussex but now lives in Moncton.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "My whole life, I have been into fine arts, drawing and painting since I was very young" said Zarei, who is from Sussex but now lives in Moncton.

An optician by profession, Zarei calls himself a “hobby-a-holic” and says he’s dabbled in painting, leather working and now pipe art is his passion.

He says he need the hobby to get through our rough Canadian winters.

“I get a little cabin feverish and usually every winter, I will pick something,” he said.

By fastening together pipes normally used to transport natural gas, Zarei creates pipe lamps in the shape of human figures that seem to come to life.

He is inspired by stick figures scratched out on scraps of paper.

“All over the house, there is little sketches of people doing weird things. Sometimes I will just see something and pick stick men in my phone and come back to it,” he said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "All over the house, there is little sketches of people doing weird things. Sometimes I will just see something and pick stick men in my phone and come back to it," he said.

Zarei also creates shelving units, wine racks and television stands, which he says combine his love of wood with the industrial feel of metal.

“It just has a nice warm cold mix,” he said.

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But his people lamps are what really sparked his light bulb moment.  After posting one of his robot-like sculpture lamps online, Zarei says he started getting calls for custom pieces.

His work depicting a blacksmith is one of his post prized pieces and was handcrafted right down to the hammer.

He also fabricated a lunging weightlifter made for his wife, Michelle Zarei, who is a personal trainer.

“He has always been really artsy so it is not really a big surprise to me. I have always encouraged him to follow his art side because he is really talented,” she said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "He has always been really artsy so it is not really a big surprise to me. I have always encouraged him to follow his art side because he is really talented," she said.

Zarei has become so passionate about his art, he has scaled back his work as an optician to part time, seeing clearly now that creating artwork is equally his passion.

For more information about Zarei’s work, you can visit him on his Facebook page, The Industrialites.