American Sculptor Creates Amazing Sculptures from Mechanical Typewriter Parts

There are many metal sculptors who use discarded machine parts for creating sculptures. But here is an American sculptor, Jeremy Mayer, who uses only mechanical typewriter parts and materials to create sculptures that are truly awesome.

Born in Northern Minnesota, USA, Mayer took pleasure in typing song lyrics on his family’s 1920s Underwood typewriter while watching MTV. He was only 10 at that time. It was much later that he began using the parts of discarded mechanical typewriters to create sculptures.

How Jeremy Mayer Turns Typewriters into Lifelike Creatures?

What prompted Mayer to turn into a metal sculptor was his experience as a mechanic, package designer, illustrator, stained glass restorer, and sculptor’s assistant. This provided him with the skillset for the same. He turned to using the typewriter as a medium to express his creativity since it brought both nature and technology on a single platform. And he has been doing this for over 25 years.

Mayer avoids using machines to disassemble the typewriters to prevent the parts from becoming marred, scratched, or broken. He only uses screwdrivers, wrenches, pliers, and suchlike tools for the purpose. It is no mean feat to disassemble the very smallest components and assemblies from the typewriter by hand and to meticulously place the same in their appropriate places on the sculpture. All this requires a high degree of imagination and creativity.

What is really surprising is that Mayer does not use any power tools, glue, wire, welding, or other such things to make his sculptures. He also avoids bending, drilling, or altering the components as much as possible. Little wonder he calls his work ‘cold assembly’.

Mayer has a wide repertoire of sculptures that include human figures, animals, and insects. His mastery over metal makes his pieces look realistic and not skeletal. A case in point is his female figure. Although made entirely of metal, it displays grace and poise.

Mayer sources typewriter material from yard sales, thrift shops, and even typewriter repair shops. Since mechanical typewriters are history, he finds no dearth of such material. He also consciously contributes to the environment by not driving long distances in his vehicle for source material.

Mayer’s works have been displayed at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco, California, USA; Salon Des Indomptables in Paris, France; Nevada Museum of Art in Reno, USA; and Ripley’s Believe It or Not museums. He is currently based in Oakland in California, USA.

Jeremy Mayer

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