An Introduction to Micah Landers
By Ava Bowers
Micah Landers, sculpture artist of “The Many Sides of Charley Harper,” got his start by shadowing his grandfather in his metalworking and fabrication studio. In shadowing him, he worked with industrial elements for construction projects. As a now avid gardener with a childhood spent outdoors and on hiking trails, much of his industrial work is combined with inspiration from the natural world.
He returned to metalworking as an art form later in life when he started working as a sculptor’s apprentice to Douwe Blumberg with Douwe Studios, where he has been for the past three years. Here, he works from start to finish on projects alongside Blumberg, from the initial concept stage through installation on large scale statues. Previously, his work was limited to private commissions with Douwe Studios and he will be making his public debut with the sculpture, “The Many Sides of Charley Harper.”
When approaching a new project, Landers believes it is best to begin with someone else in mind. He answered ArtConnect’s Call to Artists, as to him, “they were trying to solve the perfect problem.” The problem in question was creating a three dimensional structure based on Charley Harper’s iconically flat, two dimensional art. Landers’ solution to this is a collection of cubes, aligned so that they are all visible from all angles, and from four distinct directions, four Harper images can be seen. The artist’s intention with this piece is to build connections and conversations within the community, as a result of honoring the work of a local arts hero through optical illusion.
