Michael Ulman

My passion to create was instilled at a young age while helping my father weld scraps of metal into sculptures twice my size. As my own art developed, an obsession with motorcycles would become apparent in my life and my work. The aesthetic of the sculptures seen in this portfolio has been cultivated through drawing, painting, and photography over the past 25 years.

Being a found-object sculptor, I am in the unique position of finding my materials anywhere, such as junk yards, dumpsters, and trash heaps. I look for objects that were destined to some mundane existence and give them new purpose through my sculpture. Remnants of the Industrial Age are reincarnated as motorcycles, race cars, and speed boats. A frying pan becomes a fender, a vacuum cleaner becomes a sidecar, and a mailbox becomes a hot rod.

Powerful motors are the central force behind my work. My challenge is to create static sculptures that evoke the sound, movement, and raw power that inspire them. When people look at my art, I want them to feel the engine resonating throughout their body. I want them to hear the throaty roar of the exhaust as they are drawn into my world. I achieve this by being free of mechanical obligation, and therefore scale and proportion are of little consequence and allow me to explore fantasies that have never been seen on the open road. Perhaps someday they will.

Photos of my pieces were taken by Justin Craig Roth.

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