Steel & Salt is a hand painted vintage overalls Fly Art Atelier piece, a one-of-a-kind reconstructed garment created in California.
 
The foundation of the piece is formed from vintage workwear, carrying visible traces of labor, exposure, and time. The surface has been reworked through painting, wax treatment, and textile layering, allowing the material to absorb and hold the narrative rather than simply display it.
 
The composition draws from the early industrial era of New York — the meeting point of ocean and city. Salt carried from the harbor, iron shaped into structure. Ships arriving, cranes rising, workers building the skyline by hand. These elements are embedded into the surface through fragments, markings, and tonal depth rather than direct illustration.
 
Wax treatment unifies the garment, creating a deep patina that gives the object the presence of something shaped by time. The surface behaves as a record — layered, worn, partially erased, yet still holding its structure.
 
 
The garment exists somewhere between clothing and artifact, between object and memory.
 
The piece is developed and assembled within the Fly Art Atelier practice.
 
No duplication.
No repetition.
 
Each object evolves directly on the garment, guided by texture, wear, and structure.
 
This is not customization.
This is transformation.
 
One-of-a-kind piece.
Created at Fly Art Atelier.
 
Fly Art Atelier
made with love
in California
 
Fly Art Atelier is part of the broader artistic practice of Vladimir Mukhin, a painter and object artist working in California.
 
More works and paintings by Vladimir Mukhin:
www.muhinart.com