Anyone going on a summer evening stroll in Gorham Village who walks by the corner of Highland Avenue and Robie Street is likely to notice a small ranch style house with some unusual looking metal sculptures placed throughout the small, well landscaped front yard. These include a six foot tall yellow alien as well as a red alien, and lurking in the grass, a snarling dog and a dragon.

Despite these appearances, this area has not been invaded by aliens from an all-metal planet. Instead, these objects are all creations of local artist Chris Newcomb, who lives in the adjacent house.

A recently retired teacher of gifted and talented students in Raymond public schools and at the Maine College of Art, Newcomb has been doing metal art for over ten years, after learning how to created sculptures from steel sheet metal while taking a continuing education class at MECA. He began by basing his metal sculptures on two dimensional designs that he had previously created.

Using the plasma cutting techniques that he learned in this class soon enabled him to develop a new vocation as a metalwork artist.

Over the past decade, Newcomb has developed over a dozen categories of metal sculpture designs, beside the “aliens” which stand out so prominently in his yard. These include Indoor metal wall art; solar luminaries; gongs; trellises, garden gates, and other types of garden art. All are made from one eighth inch sheet steel.

When asked about the types of comments he gets from passers-by, Newcomb commented “Aliens get the most comments.”

Regarding his inspiration for the “alien “ figures, which have become his most noticeable creations, Newcomb cites increasingly “feeling like an alien in my own country”, starting around five years ago.

Like many other commodities, the 4’ by 8’ sheets of 1/8 inch thick steel the Newcomb uses have gone up in price over the past few years. The current price of $250 is almost three times the previous cost. He stated that one of his plans for the future is to start making smaller aliens.

Portland Trails purchased several of the alien figures three years ago. They placed two of the human-sized figures at a bus stop on Brighton Avenue. They also placed two others along a trail near the Presumpscot River in the North Deering area, where one was stolen.

“I hope whoever took it put it in their back yard and is enjoying having it there”, he commented.

Newcomb had been showing his works in galleries in Kittery and Wellfleet, MA, but they have not been shown in any galleries since 2020. He has recently been selling more and more of his creations through his website: chrisnewcombart.com.

Newcomb mentioned Pablo Picasso as his primary inspiration from 20th century art, as well as other originators of Abstract Expressionism, such as Swiss painter Paul Klee, Russian paint- er Vassily Kandinsky, and Catalan artist Joan Miro. Two other major influences are Auguste Rodin, Salvador Dali, and sculptor Henry Moore.

Among contemporary influences in Maine, Newcomb lists two sculptors who are known for their large metal creations, John Bisbee of Brunswick, and Wally Warren of Somerset County.

Like a number of artists, Newcomb states he finds inspiration in random things he sees in nature every day, as well as noticing things along streets and highways as he drives around. He said he also gets inspiration from listening to recorded jazz. “I do artistic jazz,” he said.

Newcomb advises anyone interested in contemporary sculpture to plan a visit to the Clark Museum of Art in Williamstown, MA, especially if they are visiting western Massachusetts, as it has an excellent collection of such art.