Mike Newins

Q&A with Mike Newins


Where did you grow up? How did it influence you?

I grew up on an island in the Chesapeake Bay. My strong memories are of riding my bike down uneven docks to catch crabs with chicken bones tied to strings, thick fog keeping horizons close, and walking out to the end of the jetty's on the shoreline. My practice elevates common materials, searching for somber playfulness in an ominous world.


In a world overflowing with objects, why continue making new things?

It's hard to define what humans are for, let alone objects. Our weird, built world is maybe my best answer; making "more" is inarguably something we do. An individual creative practice feels like the best way I can contribute to that, where I have the greatest opportunity for generosity to both myself and the world.


What’s your favorite material to work with and why?

I’m a major advocate for Indiana limestone; layers of sediment, shells, and fossils formed into a workable solid over an incomprehensible timescale. It’s soft and relatively non-directional, inviting human intervention. And it’s beautiful in a way that unfolds slower than other stones, building with intimacy.


Tell us about something that inspires you.

I’m a huge reader. Litfic, sci-fi, cultural theory, ecological studies, academic papers, pop science - I’m constantly letting others mold me into a slightly different person, pushing against my rigid shell. I repopulate my interior with new people, places and nightmares, which absolutely helps direct the decisions I make in my work.


What would you do differently if you started your practice today?

A misstep in my career was acknowledging any line between craft, design and artistic work. My practice and mind are too fragmented, compartmentalized with vocabulary and vague market distinctions. Undoing that mentality is a shadow project, that pools around every other thing I do. My life work, the WORK, wants to be holistic.


Any advice for young designers?

Be as decisive as possible with the hard work, so you don’t become rigid with the easy work.


Any regrets?

I didn't find limestone as a material until I'd moved hundreds of miles from it's source - it had to become precious first.


~