M.B. Parks | Maximalist Misfit Maker

maker's statement

I'm Mike and I make.

I make objects that are whimsical. I make objects that are functional. I make objects that are both. I build with wood. I make with metal. I design software. I engineer electronic circuits. I also create with clay, glass, plastic, cloth, foam, paper, and any other material that strikes my fancy.

I am an engineer by day, and an artist in my dreams.

I believe everyone is creative. Indeed, it is core to the human experience. To make, to explore, to experiment. These are fundamental to our being. I reject professional priesthoods.

I make with

 craftsman hands
       artist brain
    hacker soul
    scientist dreams
engineer heart

I make.

I make with my hands. I make with my brain. I belong to the analog and the digital, the handmade and the machined. I am a tradigital craftsman. If we can hunt for tupperware in the woods with billion dollar satellites, we can make the practical and whimsical with any tool we wish, no matter how seemingly absurd it may be. We make to make. The idea is what matters, everything else is secondary.

I make not to become rich or famous. I make because it is as critical and intrinsic to my person as breathing.

I believe beauty lies in the imperfect, the impermanent, and the incomplete. I believe in sustainable and responsible design.

I am maximalist not to be flashy, but because it's necessary to experience and share with the universe in my tiny blip of an existence.

I'm Mike and I make. Welcome.