Boney Finger - Metal Sculpture Artist Creating Form with Flux

Boney Finger is an enigmatic artist working out of the Black Hills of South Dakota.  While considerable is known about his art, like with many artists, his true identity is more difficult to pin down.  The name Boney Finger was assigned to him due to a mistake on interpreting one of his early works.  That creation was an interpretive piece where the welded joints were positioned to symbolize a hand clawing from the ground to the heavens.  He named the piece “Boney Finger”, but many people misinterpreted that to be the Artist’s name. 

During brief contact with the artist some details have been established that may provide some insight into his art.  He was raised in Wisconsin. His family owned a local drugstore where the whole family was involved in guaranteeing its success.  At an early age the artist learned that hard work and a creative mind lead to a positive outcome. In addition the artist’s grandfather was also a metal worker and welder who could design and build almost anything. The artist developed the love for creating and building from those early experiences that clearly have influenced his art.   

Many of his pieces include items from various motorcycles, ranch tools, scrapped metal and can to the casual viewer seem almost random in nature.  However, for those that can recognize the individual part or model from where the raw parts originate a deeper message is sometimes revealed by the piece. With the artist adding his own personal twist, his work sometimes has an even more profound meaning.

The style of his art shows an extensive knowledge of multiple weld and metal forming processes.  He uses this self-taught knowledge to fabricate pieces that are strong and stable but at the same time look fragile and nearly gossamer-like in their appearance. 

As the years have gone by his pieces have become more and more complicated and interesting and are sure to continue to be a popular addition to businesses and homes.

Bio written by M.D. Rowan

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Thank you, Mr. Rowan,

OK - Now the real story - - -

Hi my name is Steve Arity – known as Boney Finger. I am the creator of one-of-a-kind, unique metal art. As you probably have read in my bio I am a resident of the Black Hills of South Dakota, Rapid City specifically. I have been living here for approximately 34 years. I live with my wife Jane and have two children Brianna and Preston. Both are adults. I was born in Tomah. WI.  My parents owned a local drug store there and that is where I spent a lot of my time working for my dad. I attended school in Tomah, WI through the 12 th grade and then went on to college at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point and then transferred to South Dakota State University where I graduated with a Masters degrees in Nutrition with an emphasize in Exercise Physiology and minor fields of study in Microbiology and Chemistry. I am a Registered Dietitian and have been working in the nutrition field for over 34 yrs. My profession and what I do as “Boney Finger” are worlds apart.

My bio states that I was mostly self-taught when it comes to welding but that is not entirely the whole story. When I wanted to start welding and making metal things/creations I did learn a lot from YouTube but also had some help from a couple great friends who are professional welders. They both are still very close to me and put up with all my how-to questions.  My work does not really require a great knowledge in welding - - as I tell everyone I just heat metal and stick it together. In fact I am a really, really good grinder.

For some reason I had this urge to build something and since my carpentry skills are nonexistent I thought metal would do. I think it had to do mostly because my grandfather could build about anything, mostly out of necessity, and I wanted to be like him. I found it fascinating he could “create” things he needed.

As my bios states one of my first “creations” was a hand with the index finger pointing up – as to say #1. It was a number one prize or first prize for our annual family reunions bean-bag or corn-hole tournament.  I made it because I thought it was cool and well that is where it started. From there I went on to build a metal statue of a football player which I consider a replica of my son as a Quarterback. The statue has a lot of flaws as I did not know the value of using “cleaned-up metal”. The football player statue is very special to me. At the same time I was fascinated by Gabion Art or projects.  A gabion means big cage. Look up Gabion it is an interesting story. I told myself I was going to build some letters for the lawn and fill them with rock for yard art. See pic in the gallery. Since my first A for my own yard I have had several requests to make other letters. See pics in my gallery on my website.

I mostly build whatever comes to my mind. I have completed several motorcycles from old scrap metal from my father-in-laws ranch, old motorcycle parts and farm machinery. Sometimes I am given some scrap metal from a friend and I try to figure out something to build from that – hence the variety of items I have displayed on my website. For the last year or so I have been building the motorcycles as they have been popular at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. I will have pics of ones that sold on my website.

When I first started out my family was not too confident in my ability and quite possibly thought it was a fade that I would soon outgrow so to speak. Now after creating and selling a variety of creations they may not roll their eyes quite as much after hearing of a new idea I have.

Parting words – I would love to be able to do this full-time but I gott’a eat!!!!!!

I do not consider myself an artist but just a guy with a welder, crazy ideas and visions to create something where there is nothing.

Please see my gallery of pics on my website Boneyfinger.com or Instagram page @boneyfinger_sd.

Thank you for visiting my site.

Steve Arity

Boney Finger