Artist Interview: Mikha Dominguez
Mikha Dominguez aka Mikhamik (they/them) is a Queer non-binary latinx Venezuelan visual artist, photographer and sculptor who has lived in Minneapolis since 2014. Their early career was spent working in the Venezuelan national television industry where Mikha experienced state censorship under the dictatorship of President Hugo Chávez.
Using techniques drawn from self-portrait, collage, make-up, performance art, photography and sculptures, Mikha explores themes of gender, the body, religion and the reinterpretation of reality. Their most recent work combines wood, resin, plastic, metals, and bold colors, where ribbons of metal appear to blow on the wind, and flowers remain still and frozen, glistening. Mikha is a recent recipient of CAFAC's full-tuition Blacksmithing scholarship, made possible by the Society for Inclusive Blacksmiths.
Edited from a conversation with us, they agreed to share the story of how they fell in love with metalwork. [All images courtesy of the artist]
In 2014, I was one of the seven million people who left Venezuela for a better life. Back there, I was an art director and set designer for TV and theater so I was always interested in building things creatively. Working with metals was always in my head, but I didn’t want to go to a trade school for something like welding, because it was something that was 100% straight male dominated. But once I moved to Minneapolis, I came a few times to visit the memorial at George Floyd Square, and then I watched Seven [Bailey] on Metal Shop Masters and I thought, ‘I want to do this, I need to do this, and I have to do this’.
I was really, really depressed in 2020; I had to find myself again. And then I found the blacksmithing classes at CAFAC, and I was awarded the scholarship supported by the Society for Inclusive Blacksmiths. It has been better than the gym for me; it’s an incredible antidepressant. Blacksmithing is amazing because you are creating something, you’re building muscles pounding with your arms, you are sweating, you’re meeting other people, and you can learn from everyone who is around. In a way, then, I was those metals in the fires - blacksmithing has helped me to reshape who I am and where I want to go.
Now, every day when I come to class I come up with more ideas, bigger ideas and I make more stuff. People in class think I’m like a robot, and ask "how did you make all of these things in one night when I’m still working on one?!" When I leave Tuesday night I start thinking of new ideas and then by the next Tuesday afternoon I have it all planned out in my head and I just get to produce.
But metal has made me have more discipline. I have so many ideas that I always have more than one piece going at a time, but when you are blacksmithing you have to follow a certain order in the process and timing is important so I have to focus on each piece at just the right time through every step.
I started with blacksmithing because I wanted to make weird shapes and add them to my craft. All of my life, I just always want to learn new things and add new dimensions to what I know. Resin is a trending topic, pouring paint is trendy, but blacksmithing and welding will always be used to make art until the end of days. Metalwork is such a great skill to have as an artist. Now I want to learn to do welding so I can use that in my work.
My work has always been bold, extremely colorful and very kitsch. With metal now, my work has a movement and fluidity that sometimes surprises people. It’s amazing how something so hard can have such beautiful silhouettes. And if you see my photography, I try to capture that same feeling of flowing movement by using fabrics.
That’s what I like about coating the metal with resin, it makes the work come alive. I really, really like the look of the material raw, I enjoy being able to work the material but leave it raw. In some cases it will get rust, other places it won’t, and adding resin changes the color, too. The results are always unexpected.
I started my first course here in October 2021. In the first class you have to make all of your own tools: pointers, markers, punch holder, tongs and three hooks. I particularly spent three classes making the freaking tongs! It was so hard. And then one night I came in and Dan let me use the power hammer…what you can do with your hands in 45 minutes, the power hammer can do in three seconds…I just thought, wow! Why am I not using this every day!? I fell in love with it. And I used it to finish my tongs right away.
After I had finished the first class series, I was so hungry for more. I thought ‘Now, how can I take this to the next level and see what I can create?’ I was able to sign up to take the class again in spring as a “Reheater” and got the scholarship again, too. Right away I got to work on my own creations, and I always feel supported. Dan [Osadchuk, CAFAC instructor] says, “If you can draw it, you can make it.”
The scholarship to increase access to metal trades is one of the best opportunities I have been given. Without it, I would not have been able to sign up for these classes. Everything is included except the materials, but if you’re like me you can look in the trash or recycling to see what pieces of metal people have gotten rid of from the last week to see how you can create something new with it.
Everyone at CAFAC has been super helpful and welcoming; it really feels like a family, where people ask you about how you are and actually remember what you said to them last time. If I could take more classes in the week here, I would. Tuesday is my craziest day, but it is my favorite day because I get to come here.
See Mikha’s work this summer! They’ll be at the NE Sculpture Gallery, where they are an Intern Artist Fellow, June 10 - 11; at the Twin Cities Pride Festival, June 25 - 26, in Loring Park; and at Squirrel Haus Arts at the end of July.