I

f you think it’s time-con-
suming to order, purchase,
prepare, cook, slice and
serve your Thanksgiving turkey,
imagine how Henry ‘Hank’
Fleischer feels after spending
508 hours over the course
of four months to create his!
Albeit, Fleischer’s turkey was
made of file folders with no
need for an oven or refriger-
ation, but the artist did create
it in his kitchen. Unlike the
Thanksgiving bird, gone after
a few days, Fleischer’s cre-

ation “lives on” as one of three
sculptures showcased as his
award-winning entry in this
year’s international ArtPrize
competition, and again at a spe-
cial exhibit at Fox Run Senior
Living Community of Novi
where he lives.
Adding to the impact of
the creation, which is part of
his mixed media “Birds of a
Feather” trilogy, is the fact that
the artist is 97 years old! Along
with the turkey, the three pieces
include a peacock and a phoe-

nix, all of which took more than
two years to complete.
Fleischer wasn’t always an
artist. He wroked for 53 years
as an engineer, retiring from
Numatics Inc. in Highland
when he was 78, spending the
next 12 years as a consultant.
“When I was 84, I had done
everything on my (late) wife
Rhoda’s ‘honey do’ list and
needed to find something else
to do,
” he said. “I happened to
be in the Gifts of Art Gallery at
the Taubman (Health) Center in

Ann Arbor and saw some pieces
of art made from folded cutouts.
I was intrigued by this and went
home and spent six months
folding and cutting materials,
but it didn’t hold my attention,
”
Fleischer said. “Then Rhoda
suggested that I try drawing and
putting my work into 3-D form.
“I started working with paper,
but it was too soft and then I
used the cardboard that comes
on hangers from the cleaners,
but it was too heavy.
” Through
trial and error, he discovered
file folders were the perfect
material in a medium he calls
“architectural art.
”
“I made smaller things at the
beginning,
” he said. “
An owl,
a swan, a cat, a penguin, and
a lot of geometric forms and
shapes.
” With smaller leftover
folder-pieces, he would create
jewelry for Rhoda, who he calls
his muse. “I made her earrings
and pendants and broaches, and
used her clear nail polish as a
finish,
” he said.

ArtPrize-Winning

OUR COMMUNITY

Re-purposed file folders become remarkable
‘Birds of a Feather’ sculptures.

SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

20 | NOVEMBER 25 • 2021

Hank Fleischer at Fox
Run with ‘Pavo Cristatus,’
his majestic strutting
proud peacock, subtitled
‘Remembering Rhoda’s
beauty and poise.’

Turkey

BRADEN RADTKE