Help Gadget launch his art career

Hi. My name is Gadget and I am looking to my extended community to help me acquire a professional-grade laser cutter to advance my art and potentially pivot to an art-focused career.

I lead a double life. Up until recently, I spent most of my day in tech, helping enterprise companies release software and infrastructure cleanly and efficiently. While I have the passion and skill for tech, it does not fully utilize my endless imagination and creative potential. Thus, in my spare time, I am a creative maker, a multidisciplinary artist, and an advocate and administrator of public art for my city. I consider myself a sculptor, but I also create conceptual art, burning man art, and art in public spaces. I have been known to work in all sorts of weird mediums and I often incorporate found and reclaimed objects into my art. As a volunteer Arts Commissioner, I helped establish Redwood City’s public art program and I continue to build our outdoor gallery, make art accessible to everyone, and support local artists.

At the beginning of this year, I was laid off from my tech job, which gave me some time to reflect and work on my art. I completed a sculpture, which was in progress for years, and embarked on a bunch of new creative projects. I found a daily rhythm, being more active and working with my hands and I started pushing my boundaries and exploring new mediums. Now, with a few new exciting artworks under my belt, I’m feeling like I might just be ready to call myself an artist and I am exploring ways to pivot toward a more creative career producing art.

I have recently found a passion for laser woodworking, and more specifically, locally inspired, multi-layered laser cut wood art. It’s been a journey learning to design digitally to create physically. I’ve had to teach myself Inkscape, vector graphics, and how to think in layers. I’ve had to learn the qualities of different types of materials, how to operate and maintain the laser, and all sorts of strategies for flattening, staining, gluing, and finishing. Along the way, I’ve met a bunch of great people and have started teaching others what I’ve learned.

To date, I’ve primarily been utilizing a laser cutter at my local library’s makerspace. While it’s a great resource, I am only able to get a small amount of time on it, so my ability to create, tinker, iterate, and fabricate my art is severely limited. My first piece took over a month to prototype because I was only able to use the laser cutter for about one hour each week. This was fine for a personal project, but it is not fast enough or reliable enough to pursue my art professionally. Moreover, the small bed size of the laser cutters that I have had access to has limited the scale of my art. I’d like to be able to work bigger, cut multiple layers of my projects at once, and experiment more. I’ve investigated external laser cutting services, but they are prohibitively expensive for artists.

At this point, I’m convinced that laser-assisted woodworking is a medium that I have a talent for and is something that I’d like to explore in-depth, so I’m looking to acquire a professional-grade laser cutter. The one I’m after is an Epilog Fusion Edge 24/36. With the ventilation equipment and accessories, I expect the cost to be somewhere between $20k to $40k. At the lower end of the cost spectrum are used/refurbished machines. At the higher end, are larger, faster, and stronger machines that are able to cut more materials. With a new laser cutter, I hope to be able to pursue bigger and more exciting artworks, other crafty projects to earn some income, and potentially provide laser cutting opportunities to other artists in my community. So here I am, trying to raise funds to make that happen.

In appreciation to my supporters, I want to offer some of my art to my backers. I’m offering some of my first art pieces to you in return for your donations:

< $100 - A sincere “Thank You”. Everything helps

$100 - “Eye of Protection” “Illuminaughty” magnet

$200 - “Hive” bee magnet

$500 - Two magnets (mix and match the ones above) + you can help chose the color scheme(s) of the layers

$1000 - One of my artworks, either the “Redwood City” or “OctoCourthouse” design, unframed.

$2000 - My “Redwood City” artwork in a handmade, repurposed lumber floating frame - you help choose the color scheme of the layers

$10,000 - Custom 12” x 12” 3-4 layered artwork, inspired by ideas and design elements of your choosing

$15,000 - Custom 20” x 20” 4-5 layered artwork, inspired by ideas and design elements of your choosing

$20,000 - Custom artwork in larger format sizes (max size depends on the laser cutter that is purchased)

You can find additional images and information about my work on Instagram at @madebygadget