This site is the creative work of Sonia Yaco.

I like old things – the lives they led, the stories they can become. I transform found objects – kitchen utensils, plumbing fixtures, piano parts, broken china, children’s blocks – into kinetic sculptures. An eggbeater, watch face, and watch spring become a pregnant dancing woman. Quirky and humorous, the kinetic aspect of my sculptures invites viewers into each piece’s world. Crank the wooden handle and you help little Loch Ness monsters move to see over their mother’s hat at the drive-in movie. Pull the handle and the octopus’s legs spin. Found objects also are the source material for the furniture and musical instruments that I build – chairs from letter press drawers, cigar box ukuleles, and wind-powered music boxes.  My art usually starts with an object that catches my attention and I wonder what else it could become. Could a wire egg poacher become a plateosaurus?

My work is influenced by my unrealized plan to become a carpenter and my unplanned but real profession as archivist. My fascination with machines, movement, and cause and effect is evident in my sculptures. Echoes of my past jobs as a computer consultant, sewing instructor, and archivist for a tractor company show up as well. Born in Michigan, I was educated in Wisconsin. I am a librarian/archivist in New Jersey.