As children, we all had dreams of creating something grand — perhaps digging a hole at the beach to the other end of the world or building a life-size castle out of toothpicks — but few of us traversed the creative path far enough to fulfill that vision.

Viewing the “Anxious Objects”: William Cole’s Favorite Brands exhibition at the Cantor Arts Center is like pedaling backwards to a time when we, too, viewed things not just as functional objects but as building blocks at our disposal; yet Cole’s pieces on display also baffle us in terms of the complex, creative use of everyday objects to represent elaborate cultural symbols such as the mandala or African masks.

The pieces on display at Cantor represent closely the variety of materials used and subjects depicted in Cole’s sculptures. Cole’s earlier pieces are made from irons: “My first inspiration for using irons occurred many years ago when I kept walking past an iron run over by a car,” Cole commented during his presentation at the Wilsey Distinguished Lecture on Oct. 6 at the Annenberg Auditorium. “Finally, I gave in to temptation and picked it up.”

Thus is the inspiration for pieces such as “Domestic Degrees” (1998), in which a hot iron is used to scorch layers of paper, creating different degrees of burn marks.

Cole also used the irons themselves to assemble pieces such as “Water Window Female Iron Figure” (1998), a sculpture created of metal iron parts, cord and concrete. This statue reflects Cole’s fascination with African power figures and tribal symbolism. “I believe in spirituality and life in inanimate objects,” Cole stated. “Certain figural shapes do insinuate power in African culture, and I like to use consumer objects to duplicate those shapes.”

This fusion of African motifs with manufactured objects, titled “neo-Africanized art,” is reminiscent of Picasso’s work as well as Minimalist traditions as established by Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray’s “ready-mades.”

Cole’s assembled sculptures made of iron led him to experiment with other consumer objects as well. In 2002, Cole collected various used bicycle parts to construct “Sears Ross tji wara (mother and child),” a type of African Bamana head mask that honored the antelope/man who taught the tribe to farm. This piece in particular emphasizes the graceful curves and utility of bicycle parts.

In 2000, Cole began to work with glazed vitreous china and other bath facilities such as taps and plumbingware to construct figurative sculptures. Though Cole began with no idea as to what the result of his assemblages would look like, he worked with different configurations until an idea struck. “I never sketch or plan out my pieces,” Cole said. “I usually play with the material at hand until an idea appears. The process is very intuitive and fast.”

Aside from African-inspired art, Cole also experimented with East Asian symbols and themes. Using mostly thrift store high-heeled shoes and hairdryers, Cole created a series of furniture, masks and figure sculptures in 1993 that was inspired by Imelda Marcos, the infamous wife of President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines, whose possession of a large number of shoes was a quintessential representation of the greed and malfeasance of that government.

One such piece is “Made in the Philippines” (1993), a throne constructed of mostly red, black and white shoes. Threaded and nailed together, the downward-facing soles are reminiscent of tree leaves while the red heels on the border suggest flames. However, even more impressive than the throne made of 3,000 shoes is “Air in Remission” (1990), a large, circular installation piece made of hairdryers and shaped like a mandala. Standing in the middle of the piece and imagining all the hairdryers blowing at once is like experiencing modern meditation in an internal world of ever-flowing air.

For the wide selection of art exhibited, Cantor does an effective job of grouping Cole’s works in the room by themes: pieces that are more politically and historically oriented are mostly interspersed in one corner of the exhibit. One of the most interesting pieces is “Malcolm’s Chickens I” (2002), which was inspired by 9/11. The title originated from a comment Malcolm X made after the assassination of President Kennedy: “the chickens come home to roost,” meaning that the pent-up violence and anger within America due to injustices had resulted in death. Thus, “Malcolm’s Chickens I” is made fully of material suggesting heat and fire: feathers made of matches with insides stuffed with broom heads, wax and Styrofoam

For those in awe of Cole’s incredible ability to sculpt out of all media, Cole has one comment: “I believe in the oneness of the world; anyone can make anything out of everything. All objects, including shoes, are like cells that can be built up into a greater whole.”

“Anxious Objects”: Willie Cole’s Favorite Brands will be on exhibit at the Pigott Family Gallery at the Cantor Arts Center from Oct. 3 to Jan. 6.