<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/2/1581965528553.jpeg" alt="FHSU student&nbsp;Woody Stauffer stands on his sculpture "Winged Snake Foundry Garden," which is part of his Master of Fine Arts exhibit "Dredge the Foundry: For Dirt and Era." The exhibit is on display in the Moss-Thorns Gallery at FHSU through Friday. Courtesy photo" />
 <figcaption>FHSU student&nbsp;Woody Stauffer stands on his sculpture "Winged Snake Foundry Garden," which is part of his Master of Fine Arts exhibit "Dredge the Foundry: For Dirt and Era." The exhibit is on display in the Moss-Thorns Gallery at FHSU through Friday. Courtesy photo</figcaption>
 </figure>By CRISTINA JANNEY Hays PostWoody Stauffer's "Dredge the Foundry: For Dirt and Era" exhibit covers a wide range in concrete, metals and plastics that from the&nbsp; pieces meant to evoke eons of decay to whimsical "animal crackers" cast in aluminum.Stauffer's Master of Fine Arts exhibit will wrap up Friday in the new Moss-Thorns Gallery of Art in the art building on the Fort Hays State University campus.Stauffer, 28, of Minneapolis, Minn., is concluding three years of study at FHSU with an emphasis in cast metal and concrete, although he also incorporates found and natural objects as well as plastics in this show.The centerpiece of Stauffer's show is called the "Winged Snake Foundry Garden." He has incorporated his own small scale furnace into this piece. He wrapped a portion of the crane for the crucible in concrete and encased a cast iron dragon in the concrete.He said the sculpture is his homage to metal casting.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/2/1581967686272.jpeg" alt="The back scales of the dragon on the&nbsp;"Winged Snake Foundry Garden" sculpture." />
 <figcaption>The back scales of the dragon on the&nbsp;"Winged Snake Foundry Garden" sculpture.</figcaption>
 </figure>Yet, he also said the dragon in the piece is representative of a demon. He said he loves his art, yet he knows he doesn't make a lot of money creating it."A lot of my work is about unearthing the past of the planet, which is buried beneath the ground. You have to unearth things to discover the past of planet earth," he said. "[I am] trying to understand how the earth functions and the metal that comes from the earth."Many of his pieces contain dinosaurs or prehistoric-looking creatures, which he said is a homage to the earth's past."It is hard to fathom time scale and the time of the planet," he said. "Us humans are only here for 100 years. When I make sculpture, I try to channel certain natural things that the earth does."The furnace on display in Stauffer's current exhibit will be headed to the Colby Art Walk this spring to be used to cast scratch blocks for community members. A scratch block is a carving in sand that is used as the mold for a metal pour.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/2/1581965917464.jpeg" alt="Artist Woody Stauffer, FHSU graduate student, stands next to an art piece that incorporates a piece of tailpipe he found by the side of the road. Courtesy photo" />
 <figcaption>Artist Woody Stauffer, FHSU graduate student, stands next to an art piece that incorporates a piece of tailpipe he found by the side of the road. Courtesy photo</figcaption>
 </figure>Another sculpture in Stauffer's exhibit incorporates a rusted tailpipe in concrete.&nbsp;"I was walking down the street and I found it on the side of the road," he said. "That is the thing with sculpture — sometimes you find something, and I want to incorporate that into a sculpture. I brought it to Kansas and I spent two years just having it my garage space."That is the fun thing about sculpture is finally finding a home for materials."<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/2/1581966335939.jpeg" alt="Stauffer used plastic wrap to mold the concrete for this sculpture titled "Asteroid."" />
 <figcaption>Stauffer used plastic wrap to mold the concrete for this sculpture titled "Asteroid."</figcaption>
 </figure>For the&nbsp; sculpture&nbsp; "Asteroid," Stauffer used plastic wrap for the first time as a mold for concrete.&nbsp; He also cast iron "rocks," that sit at the base of the sculpture.&nbsp;He has also used chill molds to create more futuristic, almost alien- or robotic-looking creatures, which he says are meant to look futuristic.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/2/1581966646233.jpeg" alt="Stauffer used chill molds to cast these futuristic creatures in metal. This piece is titled "Up from Here."" />
 <figcaption>Stauffer used chill molds to cast these futuristic creatures in metal. This piece is titled "Up from Here."</figcaption>
 </figure>Stauffer has also been experimenting with 3-D printing at FHSU.&nbsp; He has used the 3-D printing to create molds that are used to cast pieces in metal. He created an aluminum brush and dustpan through this process.Working in concrete, he creates a lot of dust, but he also said the sculpture was symbolic of our need to take better care of our planet."It might be a nihilistic approach," he said. "What we are doing to the planet may kill us all in the end, but plastic will still be here. It is what I have been pondering. What is going to remain here from us?"<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/2/1581966882588.jpeg" alt="Stauffer used a rotation mold to create the pink plastic pig for this sculpture titled "Packaged Pig."" />
 <figcaption>Stauffer used a rotation mold to create the pink plastic pig for this sculpture titled "Packaged Pig."</figcaption>
 </figure>"I like to add some sorts of humor into my work too," he said standing over his "Nature is Metal, Life is Dumb." "... just like life on the planet and all its diverse forms and how weird it is to be a living thing."<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/2/1581967379454.jpeg" alt=""Nature is Metal, Life is Dumb" by Woody Stauffer, FHSU grad student" />
 <figcaption>"Nature is Metal, Life is Dumb" by Woody Stauffer, FHSU grad student</figcaption>
 </figure>Stauffer said his favorite aspect of his work is the casting process."I love the casting process where you get the furnace going and you can feel the heat and the slow melt of the metal," he said. "There is a lot of process involved."Stauffer said casting metal is not a "solo adventure.""It is like a sporting event. You have your team. You have to coordinate with one another," he said. "It is like an athletic event too. There is a lot of lifting and moving and preparing things."When he works with concrete, that is usually an individual process.&nbsp;Stauffer has been experimenting using the geometric forms in styrofoam packing as molds for concrete. One of his concrete pieces was cast from a drink carrier, but it it yielded a very earthy, decayed-looking piece.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/2/1581967047961.jpeg" alt="Stauffer used packing material to cast this piece titled "Contingency of Dirt."" />
 <figcaption>Stauffer used packing material to cast this piece titled "Contingency of Dirt."</figcaption>
 </figure>&nbsp;Learn more about Stauffer's sculpture at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wssgdesigns.com/">https://www.wssgdesigns.com/</a>

Stauffer explores past, present, future in FHSU MFA exhibit