Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandon Mike.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Every since I was young being an artist was encoded within my being. I looked at painting and sculpture as a method for expressing myself and my mind would conjure images of pieces waiting to be brought into manifestation. For me the journey as a professional artist and sculptor has been a gradual, yet consistent expansion into potentials and possibilities. I started in a career of advertising as one does hoping to make a creative career and quickly discovered that my soul longed to work with my hands and to conjure up my thought forms and bring them into existence. I quit my day job and started freelancing graphic and web design while creating sculpture and side hustling along the way. After a while I started to expand my breadth of work and adopted the philosophy of “if you build it they will come”. I noticed that after I created a piece from my heart commissions would eventually come in to expand on that process and allowed me to continually build up my portfolio and gain a greater capacity in my skillsets, all which contributed to the expansion of my creative expression. Over time that consistency helped me build relationships with architects, interior designers and art advisors which have all helped me to push my limits and continue to grow my business.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road to a successful artistic career if nothing but simple in this day and age and I’m honestly still navigating its nuances. Nowadays, I think artists not only have to focus on conceptualizing and executing on vision but also generating content and marketing, viewing the modern content creating process as an integral part of their creative process. I have a continual struggle with this as I find it takes you out of your “flow state” and you are no longer creating within the act of creation in the present but creating content while creating. That mindset puts you in multiple states, one as the creator , the viewer, and the actor – to me it just feels inauthentic to the expression, but alas social media gets your name out there so its a catch 22. There’s also the advent of AI now which almost completely desensitizes our concept of reality. I find that AI takes the awe out of actual human achievement and the acknowledgment of the will-power and dedication upon which great works are brought into existence.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Over the course of my artist career I’ve immersed myself into a variety of artist techniques and mediums. I find that the exploratory method of various materials and stylistic approach lends to a deeper understanding of creative possibilities; each medium lends it’s self to certain characteristics and offers complementary potentials in relating to other materials and architectural spaces. My work spans from polished concrete and bronze animal totems to large-scale monumental stone sculpture my work encapsulates a breadth of creative expression. Recently, I’ve been exploring the potentials of large scale plaster relief sculptures on walls, abstract contemporary art pieces, light sculptures and refined hanging sculptures for lobbies. I’m the most proud of my ability to problem solve and explore a new methodology of style and craftsmanship that helps bring to life new and thought provoking pieces into the world.
What are your plans for the future?
The future is full of endless possibilities, I’m eager to work on larger scale experiential installations that promote a sense of peace and awe as well as exploring the possibility of sound as a medium and permanent monumental sculpture spaces. Public art and large scale experiential commercial installations are ever on my radar and I’m excited about the potential of reaching a larger public audience and providing mindful spaces and experiences for all.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.brandonmike.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brandonmike
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brandon.mike/
