Steve Thompson

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Many Thanks, Jane and Tony

Steve Thompson - Steampunk Sculptor
Born - Melbourne
Resides - Sunshine Coast hinterland

Born in Melbourne, Steve escaped to the countryside at age 30. He has had a fairly diverse working life. Excavating, mining, sales, finance, advertising, driving and etc. The move to the country spurred the emergence of his creative side.
He started carving stone, designing and making stainglass windows and lamps and crystal wandmaking. 20 years ago he found Maleny and its creative pulse. He found new outlets, performance poetry, street theatre at Woodford Folk Festival, stand-up comedy. He was drawn into prop making. Swords, knives, horn goblets, lost wax jewelry and costumes.
In recent years he has worked closely with an engineer/inventor on electric vehicles and general engineering as his assistant. Engineering skills learned there fed directly into his new love...Steampunk Sculpture.
"The art I do is about problem solving. The shelves of my studio are overflowing with components. Brass bits, wooden bits, glass bits, gemstones, meteorites, alabaster, oyster shells, clock parts etc. etc. The benches are crammed with tools with which to prepare them and put them together.
The challenge starts when I find a bit that looks like something..maybe a helmet or a jet-pack. Then the search commences and I go through everything again for the gazillionth time to find the rest of this thing I'm imagining. Then its cutting, grinding, drilling, polishing and somehow attaching. The vague picture I start with takes various turns depending on what funky bits and pieces I find and how they fit in.
I sometimes wonder which is the stronger feeling in the process. The hair pulling frustration of not being able to find the right bit or the elation of the eureka moment when the perfect piece turns up...and fits in.
I do what I do to affect people for even a moment, to extract a smile or a laugh or a "Wow", to inspire. When my art does that, as far as I'm concerned I've been successful.