Metal, memory, and meaning—shaped by hand and heart.

Larry Alexis doesn’t overthink art. He listens to it.
 

“It tells me what to do,” he says simply. “And when it tells me to stop, I stop.”

Known around the gallery by many names—Larry, Alexis (from his Navy days), Old Man, Grandpa, or even Junkart Dog—he’s one of those artists who defies easy labels. His work shifts between metal, ink, acrylic, and pencil, spanning everything from small, intimate pieces to large-scale sculptures that live outdoors, in public spaces, and in the hearts of the people who collect them.

Originally from West Michigan, Larry found his way to South Carolina through the U.S. Navy, where he worked building torpedoes. Art, at least in the formal sense, didn’t come until much later.
 

“I always drew,” he says. “But I didn’t actually start doing ‘art’ until 2018.”

That year, he took a seniors painting class.

Now?

He teaches it.

Art as Necessity, Not Decoration

Larry Alexis doesn’t talk about being “inspired.”

That word doesn’t quite fit.
 

“Nothing inspired me,” he says. “I just needed to express myself. Once I did, it felt like I was doing what I was meant to do.”

That sense of necessity runs through everything he creates. Raised in a poor, blue-collar neighborhood where nothing came easy, Larry learned early how to take things apart and put them back together—skills born out of survival that would later become the backbone of his sculptural work.

“We had nothing unless we could build it or reconstruct it,” he explains. “That’s how all this started.”

His materials often carry that history with them—scrap metal, copper, found objects—transformed into pieces that feel both rugged and tender, industrial and poetic.

A Process Guided by Listening

Larry’s creative routine is as distinctive as his work.

Most mornings start early—very early.
 

“I turn on the TV at 4:00 a.m. and stare at the work until it tells me what it wants,” he says. “I work until about 9:00, then I kick on the heavy metal and keep going until I’m tired.”

Because chronic pain limits how long he can sit or stand, Larry often works on multiple pieces at once, moving intuitively between them. If a piece comes from one of his photographs, he may grid it out. Otherwise, he lets the material lead.
 

“I find my starting point and let it talk to me.”

And when does he know a piece is finished?
 

“It tells me to stop.”

Art That Makes People Feel Something

Larry’s hope for his work is refreshingly straightforward.
 

“I just want people to smile and feel happy—even if it’s only for a little while.”

There’s a generosity to that intention that carries into how he interacts with collectors. His work ranges widely in scale (3 inches to 8 feet) and price ($10 to $1,500), because he believes everyone should be able to own art—regardless of budget or space.

“A lot of people can’t afford or don’t have room for something big,” he says. “But they still want something I created.”

His pieces live in working-class homes, bars, gardens, and even public spaces. The City of Goose Creek recently purchased two of his works for permanent display at City Hall and the Recreation Center.

And then there’s his favorite collector story.
 

“Someone loved one of my pieces so much she asked about layaway,” Larry recalls. “I told her we don’t do that—but I could give her a big discount.”
“She cried.”

He shrugs when he tells it.
 

“It’s more important to me that my work finds the right home than the money.”

Teacher, Mentor, and Metalworker

Though Larry says he doesn’t have an “actual job,” his impact reaches far beyond his own studio. He volunteers his time teaching painting to seniors, and at Art on the Square Gallery, he leads one of the most hands-on workshops offered: the Copper Rose Workshop.

In this class, students create roses from copper scraps using real metalworking and plumbing tools—cutting, flaring, shaping, and assembling each piece from start to finish.
 

“People surprise themselves,” he says. “That’s the best part.”

His advice to emerging artists is just as direct as his process:
 

“Don’t let other people tell you what your art should be.”

Community, Family, and Finding Belonging

Larry has been part of the local arts scene since the early days—his first studio was at PWAC shortly after it opened. He’s watched the Summerville art community grow from the ground up, and he’s proud to have been there near the beginning.

When he’s not creating, he makes time for what matters most.
 

“Art is an obsession,” he admits. “But family comes first. Game night is always fun.”

Art That Refuses to Be Ordinary

If Larry has to paint a landscape, it’ll probably be a swamp or a beach. But more often than not, his work resists categories entirely.

It’s honest.

It’s unconventional.

It’s made by someone who listens closely—to materials, to people, and to life itself.

You can experience Larry Alexis’s expressive metalwork, paintings, and mixed-media pieces at Art on the Square Gallery, where his work invites you to look twice, smile unexpectedly, and maybe see the world just a little differently.