About
My name is Steve Sype, an artist working in and around Detroit. I'm obsessed with creativity and making things. I've been drawing since I can remember.
I've been tattooing professionally for 24 years, but that's only a part of my creative outlets. I work with music, sculpture, painting, woodworking, photography, and graphic design.
I really love when art meets technology... elements of handmade craft combined with help from computers and machines.
With EchoWave, I'm able to use my artistic knowledge and drawing experience in combination with software to create precise designs, and to then use a laser cutter to sculpt the designs out of tangible materials such as wood and acrylic. These raw materials are then hand finished and combined together to make sculptures, and functional pieces of art.
This collaboration of "man and machine" mirrors my interest with retro-futuristic films such as the 1960's movie "2001 Space Odyssey" and the 1980's cyberpunk film "Bladerunner" with themes such as human's relationship with technology. I love the vibe when vintage meets future. This is also why I love the Mid-Century Modern stylings. Rooted in the past, looking into the future. These things really inspire my art. I think these themes are more relevant today with technology and artificial intelligence evolving exponentially.
I craft these pieces of art by starting a hand drawn sketch, then using software to digitize these drawings. I then prepare my raw materials and insert them into a laser cutter. Once cut, there's much honing, painting, and hand finishing of the pieces before gluing and combining together.
I've have pieces that are relatively simple, but hope to continue pushing boundaries of technology to automate or make them interactive with the viewer.
Not only do I visualize and create these art pieces, but also enjoy creating functional pieces and artistic signage for others and businesses in my area.
