BULA!

I’ve been a creative my entire life. But, I’ve spent my 20-year career in the military, tech industry, and hospitals. It’s a sign of the times that I am pursuing something intrinsic and real. From the heart, so-to-speak. I am drawn to creating things. It’s important in a time when our ideas of reality are questioned by forces beyond our control. I want an art renaissance.

Welcome to MachFleet. It’s not only my portfolio, but a small piece of a larger puzzle. Please excuse the novice website and let’s focus on the hand-crafted analog barrage of beauty that is this brand or alter-ego.

MachFleet is strength, boldness, rebirth, and accessibility. While each piece requires days of planning and action to produce, I want you to enjoy it and take it home with you. All works are $150 or less.

Thank you for your curiosity and enjoy my work. The cliff-notes process for this installation is below! - Adam Niekras

I’ve been inspired by a number of mediums in the past few years. I’ve had phases in watercolor, (graffiti) writing, graphic design, and japanese techniques. So why printing?

I pay attention to my body and mindstate when I carve. I consider myself hyperactive and neurotic at times. Hell, my career ended due to nervous system challenges. Shortly after quitting booze, I began to search for things that slowed me down and made me feel safe. Art demands my presence in real-time.

I value the time and meditation it takes to produce a piece. I value the scarcity of printed media (I limit my runs to 10 or less). Wood is inherently technical to work with, and mistakes are irreversible. Lastly, these prints take foresight- planning black/white balance and the mirror-image that is relief printing.

I’ve not only learned to accept the mistakes, but embrace them. Wood is so unpredictable, that it should be valued for the fact that it is intentionally carved and not quick, lunchbreak design. Punk Rock.

Woodblocks:

Renegade: One of my proudest pieces. It is also the best-seller. This was inspired by a good friend moving away. Other circumstances bursted with loneliness at this time. I love the way that the face rendered, and the way nature interacts in a graphic-novel fashion.

Emerald Lake: Sometimes I do more carving than arting. On days I feel less inspired to tell a story, I resort to some of my favorite scenery or abstract concepts that have lingered in my mind.

Knife & Chain: This is a piece inspired by propaganda from the early 20th century. Many of the same oppositions still exist today.

I experimented with Poplar wood for this series.

LINOCUT/Mixed Media:

I was fearful of practicing printmaking with linocut, because it’s more efficient and clean. Yet, the benefits encourage pushing new boundaries with less commitment. I’d say an average production time is a third of the same process with wood!

Linocut allows experimentation with reduction processes. A reduction is making cuts in multiple phases of one project. The first pull requires more paint, and less after the medium is reduced. I often play with color and patterns to test myself.

I also enjoy expressing myself in abstract, here. I am willing to sacrifice the wood’s grain texture to play with certain forms or designs. I am able to experiment with mixed media, such as spring flowers, gold flake and Sumi ink.

Maeva’s: I like to create mythical surf breaks with clean lines. This reduction (left is phase 1) also allowed me room to play with orientation.

While originally a right-hander. This piece also morphed into some sort of psychedelic timber.

USS Tripship is an experimentation in reduction processes. I envisioned a trippy industrial pattern, especially near the exhaust stacks, to practice. Out of it, the simple study of a ship created waves in color and pattern work.

Brushstrokes: In my abstract, I find wonder in asymmetry. This is a true Gemini piece full of contradictions: Chaos meets order, and organic meets alchemy.

This series is extremely fulfilling. Experimenting with live flowers and gold forms, I focus on aesthetic design.

Contact me

Please fill this form to be included in my mailing list, resolve inquiries, or request commissioned work.