We recently connected with Michael Rundberg and have shared our conversation below.
Michael, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
I think everything in life has some risk. My biggest risk I think I take is the time, effort and resources I put into trying to make my creative passions be my work. The way I see it, we risk by doing and not doing, so why not try? If you are someone who is passionate about something, who has an idea and does the work, what is stopping you? The only risk is putting yourself and your work out there. The bigger risk could be not acting and missing out. Don’t think of it at first as a business. It’s not a win/loss situation. It’s an opportunity to do what you love and love what you do while hopefully offering something new to the world it maybe wants or needs. Then worry about the business. Be rational, realistic, practical and most importantly, patient. But always try to move forward.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I have always been a person looking for ways to be creative and make something new. To be that first person to see something and hopefully somehow bring that new thing to other people. I have a BFA degree concentrating on sculpture, which is what I am most passionate about. Photography, drawing and painting are also disciplines I enjoy exploring. I have worked for professional artists as studio assistants doing things like sweeping floors and organizing to building sculptures from start to finish. For day jobs I learned the carpentry trade, which is immensely valuable as a sculptor. I even tried what I thought was the safe stable route by working at a School/Residency for special needs kids. Set hours, set paycheck, health insurance and lots of paid time off., Currently I am hand making sculptural gear shift knobs for custom cars and trucks. I also create interactive virtual tours for businesses, historical organizations and institutions and shoot content for the real estate market. So when someone asks me what I do,. Well it depends., If I am making sculpture, I am a sculptor., If I am taking a picture I am a photographer. If I’m driving a nail I am a carpenter., I enjoy each and treat each with the same level of respect and effort.,
Through all of these different times and experiences., My most dear to me project is my sculpture/photography I refer to as “Figurative Landscapes”. They are real trees I find on hikes that resemble the human form. To define the form and be able to play with color, line and shape, I wrap them in property line marking tape. They are then photographed, collaged into a large 2d images and ultimately will be sculptural again when printed full size on Acrylic, floating off a wall. This work came out of some restrictions I had ( No studio, and no storage., Which is kind of an issue for someone who wants to make sculpture). Working out on public land in the woods solves the studio issue and allows me to work at the scale I enjoy most. Digital photography solves the storage issue. Everything else is bonus. I get out in nature and make something that no-one has seen before. They live with me for a day while I get to use my camera creatively and experiment. I then get to play on the computer collaging 2d images., They are the perfect opportunity for me to combine all the different creative disciplines I enjoy.
I also have an equal passion for the automotive world, Jeeps, hot rods and race cars., I have combined these two passions in the past by learning traditional hand pinstriping. Also through most all of this time, another big part of my life has been my 86 Jeep CJ7. I got it from one of my creative mentors, who got it from one of his, each time not for money, but for something creative. Of course since it’s a Jeep. It’s always a work in progress and something I can be creative with. This is where one of my more recent attempts to combine my creative and automotive interests, started and simmered. This time with something no-one else is really doing.,
When I first got the Jeep of course I had to customize it., It was a deep wine red called Garnet., At the time, one friend was carving stone spheres, another working on a sculpture in this deep wine red raspberry alabaster., Well 2 + 2 there. I got myself some and the Jeep had new shifters. But that was 2001, different times both for me and the automotive world. Comes 2018 and rust, it was time for a driveway body swap rebuild. This meant new color and new shifters and I was going to go all out. With the help of a wonderful gift of the raw alabaster of my choice, this time I was going to make them last for life with an epoxy coating as perfect as I could. When they were finished, they were just too beautiful to keep to myself. My Jeep shouldn’t be the only vehicle with handmade shifters of this quality, from natures most beautiful material.
So I really started paying close attention to the custom car world and what designers and builders were doing for their shifters. It is very rare that I see what I would consider a custom shifter on a modern custom build. I see a lot that are different than what came originally, but very rarely something modern and elegant that is bespoke, unique and handmade. So I am trying my best to offer handmade sculptures from a unique and beautiful natural material that double as a shifter.
This is the body of work/business I call “Agata ShapeShifters”. Agata being Italian for agate, which is a type of stone I use, an alabaster agate, while shaping shifters is kinda what I do. I start with responsibly sourced raw stone. Mostly Alabaster and marble from American, European and Canadian mines. I avoid sources of stones from countries with questionable labor practices. I map the raw stone by eye to try and orientate each shifter with the colors of the stone. The raw stone is then cut down into different sized blocks. I then use grinders and sanders to rough out the general shape. All of my finishing is done with hand files and rasps. Even the round spheres are done by hand this way. Once at its final shape, each get about 7-9 brushed coats of non yellowing epoxy in stages of 3 coats. I sand in between each stage to remove runs and a Final Cut and buff from 3000. The mounting hardware will be fitted custom to the final application.
I have spent a considerable amount of time carving many example shifters to see and show what a just few of the possibilities are. I have 10 great Hot Rod and custom upholstery shops onboard so hopefully I will get the opportunity more and more to contribute on some of these rolling pieces of art that are being built today. I am always looking to expand my dealer and builder network and help me raise the bar.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
I have never consciously thought about what my mission or goal is or has been. I guess looking back, most important is to enjoy what I am doing. That leads me to taking pride in my work and learn about the traditions I am doing so I can build on them in my way. I try to do the best I can when doing whatever it is I am doing. Or else why do it? At this point I know what I like and what I don’t. I know where my strengths and weakness are. My goal is always to build on my strengths while trying to address and fix my weaknesses. Hopefully this will allow me to create new things that interest me and others. Things that are open to interpretation and get people to see and think about them in their own new way. When it comes to the figurative landscapes, they are a result of how can I be most creative within the parameters I have. They offer me the opportunity to spend time in different disciplines while seeing something new. They are not a conscious overt effort to try and connect us and nature. More so something I found by being open to looking. I wasn’t inspired to do these. I was more interested to see what I could find. My shifters are an excuse to just explore pure form sculpture with the only restriction being it has to fit comfortably in the hand while lasting and functioning as a shifter. They allow me to be a part of another creative industry that I am passionate about and contribute something that is unique and of high quality that I am proud of.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding aspect of being creative is simple., It is being able to be creative. To start and finish something that I am responsible for and proud of, is a great feeling. It is a feeling you don’t get from following instructions. I believe the more freedom you have to create what you want, the better your day, the better the outcome and therefor hopefully your life. Being creative allows me to avoid things I don’t want to think about. An opportunity to forget the clock, the phone and get lost and concentrate on what I want. I can make my own decisions, learn new things and make mistakes or start over and try again. That is what is most rewarding about being creative, the exploration and journey of finding something new. Being creative is about being interested and doing something, not waiting around for lightning to be inspired. If something interests you, explore it and have fun with it. You have nothing to loose. 
Contact Info:
- Website: Michaelrundberg.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaelrundberg/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AgataShapeShifters
- Other: www.agatashapeshifters.com www.instagram.com/agatashapeshifters/ www.instagram.com/michaelrundberg/ www.facebook.com/figurativelandscapes
Image Credits
Michael Rundberg