Steely sentinels and rusted wreckage–as well as smooth, crisp forms–fill the gallery at the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym (PSG) throughout the month of January for its metal process show. This Knight Arts grantee consistently offers small but powerful shows of objects, which are typically made in its community workshop spaces. PSG’s facilities are available to artists who purchase gym membership-like access to its tools in a wood shop, metal shop, and mold making/casting areas.

Joshua Coombs, “Completion From Within.”

Aside the entrance, the twisted tendrils of Joshua Coombs’s “Completion From Within” form an arch over the dented carapace which similarly bends below it. Like a rusty rainbow of veins, the allusion to that which is ‘within’ is very clear, as these arterial accents seem to creep out from the wall. Mirroring the lower half’s shape, they seem to be in the process of solidifying into the same curve, ultimately completing a circular whole.

Shane Jezowski, “opulence.”

Other than its rough, rusted exterior, the tall tower “opulence” by Shane Jezowski stands completely at odds with the organic appearance of the piece by Coombs. Not unlike the dark monolith from Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey,” we are confronted with a flat-faced behemoth which seems both deliberate and unmovable. Hearkening back to forms as distant as Egyptian obelisks, its plain exterior is constructed from multiple sheets of thin, but surely heavy metal. The only thing that separates it from its ancient likenesses or the Washington Monument’s massive white form is its top, which fails to deliver the signature pyramidal point.

Andrew Wilkinson, “Mr. Pixel.”

Andrew Wilkinson includes a couple sculptures including a silvery hot dog in a bun and a tiny geometric figure. Entitled “Mr. Pixel”–the figure is heavily abstracted, but it is not a stretch to see its stubby little arms sticking straight out from its central torso. The entire thing is pieced together by cubes of polished aluminum, only one of them–the head–is placed with an edge towards the viewer instead of a face. Clearly, this is an amusing bit of visual irony, since this edge would indeed be the character’s ‘face’ were it to possess any further details.

Gustavo Actis, “Self Portrait.”

Rounding out the show with his always enticing figurative studies, Gustavo Actis presents a self portrait in cast iron, steel, and brass. The cold, hard features around this wall-hanging bust’s closed eyes are seemingly fitted together with bolts in segments that resemble a ship’s hull more than a mannequin. Part Borg, part boiler room, the top left corner of this figure’s head appears under construction or at least full of the twisting paths of pipes and tubes. For having an oil refinery stuck to one’s forehead, this man looks remarkably calm.

Along with work by Abbey Gates and Shawn McCourt, the “Process Show: Metal” offers organic and industrial slants on a material which is as hard as it is malleable. From the decaying and broken to the polished and futuristic, metal has a wide range of possibilities, and these artists do well to explore a great many of them. PSG will be displaying this show throughout January.

Philadelphia Sculpture Gym is located at 1834 Frankford Ave., Philadelphia; [email protected]; philadelphiasculpturegym.com.