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Former Marine Constructs Lamp Sculptures to Help Handle PTSD

By Eddie Small | October 7, 2016 4:56pm
 Marine veteran Hector Cruz has been making art out of light bulbs, metal and wood for about a year and a half.
Hector Cruz
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SOUTH BRONX — After years of military service that included deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, former Marine Hector Cruz says he has found a way of coping with his post-traumatic stress disorder that has been much more effective than medication: building art projects out of light bulbs, metal and wood.

"This relaxes me. This calms me," he said. "When I think about this, I get excited. I’m having less frightful moments at night when I sleep."

Cruz, who was born and raised in the South Bronx, said he served in the Corps from 2000 to 2005 and first started making his art projects about a year and a half ago, when he was cleaning out his mother's garage and found a lot of old plumbing materials.

He said his interest in building things dates back to his days playing with Legos, and he decided to make a sculpture out of the plumbing materials he found, along with wire and a light bulb, that resembled a little man—a group he now categorizes as BX Bots.

"That led to my very first sale," he said, "and I said, 'All right! This is cool!'"

Cruz, who works as an electrical engineer, has since started using all the spare time he can find to build similar creations at his small, cluttered workshop in his Union Avenue home, and he tries to make them both decorative and functional.

One piece works as both a lamp and a place to charge a phone, laptop and tablet, for instance, while another functions as a clothing rack with four light bulbs running across the top.

He described his artwork as a way to continue serving the country despite no longer being in the military, as he tries to ensure that almost all of the materials he uses for his creations are made in America and hopes to eventually have a store of his own where he could offer people jobs.

"That’s really my end goal, is to continue helping out our country," he continued.

The artwork has also proven to be extremely beneficial for Cruz himself, as he said he has suffered from PTSD since serving in the Marines but found that focusing on his art projects relaxes him and calms him down.

"It gives me some sort of peace, rather than reliving those scary moments that I had over in Iraq," he said, "and for that I am happier. My family is happier."

Cruz wants his artwork to help out other veterans as well and said he donates 5 percent of the sales to Heroes Outdoor Therapy, a group that aims to connect veterans with opportunities for outdoor recreation.

Although Cruz said several of his sales happen online, he also had two displays go up during the spring and summer at peace & RIOT, a home and gifts store in Bed-Stuy.

Achuziam Maha-Sanchez, who owns peace & RIOT, said the store's customers do not typically care about lighting that much, but they were very taken with Cruz's creations.

"I said 'Listen, I’ve had lamps sitting here for over a year, so I don’t know what’s going to happen with you guys bringing these lamps over,'" she said, "but people responded to them. The industrial nature of them, the fact that he was using real plumbing supplies I thought was fun."

"I know I’m going to be working with him again," she continued, "because he keeps coming up with new ways to reinvent himself and just really listens to what customers are asking for."

Cruz described the transition from military life to civilian life as an extremely difficult one, characterizing veterans as a group of people eager to continue serving their country.

His artwork has helped give him the opportunity to do this.

"I feel good because I’m creating an American-made product. I feel good because I am buying American products, and I feel good because I’m giving back to some of the organizations that help out fellow veterans," he said, "so it’s a really great win-win situation all around, and I think it’s what we need."