When approached by the Dali Museum to commission a sculpture, Gialanella reached out to Tampa Steel for the materials and Diversified Water Jet used a process known as water jetting to cut the steel before delivering it to Gialanella's studio. Water jetting is an amazing precise method that uses 65,000 psi of water pressure to cut through steel and other materials. By combining intense water pressure and garnet, this technology allows us to cut steel with incredible integrity and accuracy.

Donald Gialanella  is a St. Petersburg-based sculptor, known for his prolific and wide-ranging scope of work. Gialanella earned his BFA in sculpture from The Cooper Union in 1979 and studied among the likes of Hans Haacke, Vito Acconci, Kenneth Snelson and Milton Glaser, before apprenticing with influential artist, Louise Bourgeois. Following his apprenticeship, Gialanella worked as a graphics producer at ABC-TV in New York, where he received an Emmy for his work on Monday Night Football.  After working 10 years in networks graphics, Gialanella left ABC to become an independent artist. He taught art and design at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey where he lived until he began teaching and sculpting out of his New York studio in 1995. By combining the repousse technique and traditional Blacksmithing, Gialanella developed a direct process to create steel sculpture.  Now, Gialanella calls St. Petersburg home. His work is exhibited in public spaces, museums, galleries and private collections worldwide and collectors include the likes of Angelina Jolie, Jimmy Buffett and Howard Stern.

"Seeing the mustache fully installed and suspended in space for the first time was a thrill. As early morning light gave way to mid-day sun, the profile plates revealed their multi-faceted interplay of light and shadow, treating visitors to the ever-changing imagery of the parallax mustache. I think Dali himself would have been delighted," said Gialanella.

The proud artist of Dali's Mustache

Donald at work grinding the sculpture