Tori Rodriguez

I\'m Tori, born and raised in the quaint little town of Ballston Spa, NY. I used to come up with weird little inventions as a kid, and my favorite toy was my art easel. In high school, I took art classes, along with every tech and engineering class that was offered. I studied interior design at Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan, but wasn\'t in love with the industry, so I took some time off. I started working for a machining company, where I combined my art and math skills to draw and draft all sorts of things. Here, I learned a lot about different materials (steel, aluminum, copper, polycarbonates, etc.), which pushed me to go to welding school so I could fabricate my own designs and sculptures. My goal is to combine my art and engineering talents, and take my designs to new levels, creating different, crazy, functional art. I find that some of my inspiration comes from music or nature, but most of it comes from sheer curiosity. I have a deep admiration for Wassily Kandinsky, Antonio Gaudi, Lee Krasner, Shel Silverstein, Roald Dahl, Jackson Pollock and Armando Soto, and hope that someday I will make as much of an impact on the next generation as they did on me!