A hacker mindset: From Silicon Valley tech worker to metal artist

Jun 02, 2023

Metal artist Keith Millar works in information security in Silicon Valley. He is also involved in the local arts scene, and his studio is based out of his home in Santa Cruz, Calif. Images: Keith Millar/Pietro Ortiz Photography

Information security and welding do not have much in common. Keith Millar, though, has a connection to both.

The 59-year-old from Santa Cruz, Calif., spends his days working in information security for the social media giant LinkedIn. But decades earlier, Millar picked up welding and it became a hobby. He continues to weld in his free time and is pushing to make a name for himself in the Silicon Valley arts scene.

To do both, he said, requires a "hacker mindset."

"You look for completely different ways no one ever expected" to do things, Millar said. "Maybe that kind of correlates to materials I’m combining, whether it's rock or wood or industrial pieces ... with that hacker mentality. Instead of just doing what's expected, you go completely outside and find a wacky way to do something."

Welding has opened doors for the Bay Area man, from metal fabrication to art exhibits to even teaching co-workers and loved ones how to weld.

Millar studied computer science as a college student. But he also took an interest in art history, sculpting, and ceramics.

His original interest in ceramics eventually expanded into experimenting with metal. He was drawn to industrial objects, like gears, and he began trying things like bolting pieces of clay together with metal.

In particular, Millar said he gravitated toward rusted material.

"I love the patina you get from rust as metal oxidizes, the shades and colors of rust you get, the pitting and surface texturing," he said.

Since 2000, Millar has "dove into the wonderful world of rusty metal surfaces and upcycled machinery, industrial forms, and vintage metal from a variety of sources," according to his website.

Millar specializes in sculptures that use rusted material, upcycled machinery, industrial forms, and vintage metal. One such example is a flying saucer he made out of car, tractor, and electric motor parts.

His fascination with machinery and metal can be seen in his pieces. A 20-in.-tall flying saucer he made includes components from old cars, tractors, and an electric motor. The fabrication of the sculpture required MIG welding, forging, and lathe turning.

He also made a 38-in.-tall surfer out of upcycled metal from tools and machinery. The fabrication of this sculpture required cold forming, plasma cutting, and MIG welding.

Meanwhile, a 38-in.-long Fender Telecaster guitar sculpture required upcycled metal parts from a motorcycle, bolts, and steel plates. Millar said the body is an "accurately-sized Telecaster" with the frets in the correct spacing; he had access to a mill machine to carve the guitar's fret grooves.

"For even more accuracy and fun, the strings are TIG rods that differ in thickness, as real guitar strings do as well," Millar said.

"Metal is just amazing to me," he added. "It is so hard and solid and permanent and heavy, yet we have the ability through the welding processes and heating and cutting to shape it and make these things malleable."

Millar builds his sculptures out of his home shed-turned-fab shop. He has at his disposal MIG and TIG welding equipment, a manual plasma cutter, an oxyacetylene rig for cutting and bending, chop saw/portable band saw, grinders, and he even made his own ring roller.

He's taught friends, family, and neighbors the basics out of his shop. The introduction to metal fabrication, for instance, led his wife to work on some projects, most recently completing a steel planter box, Millar said.

"I even had my 90-year-old mom plasma cutting a starfish. She's done a plasma cutting project herself," he added.

When he worked at another tech company, Millar taught fellow co-workers how to weld through an employee makerspace. People who took Millar's classes came because they were curious, looking to build new skills outside of tech, or had projects in mind involving automobiles, art, or furniture.

"It's a powerful feeling to have this kind of magical tool," Millar said. "You’re wielding temperatures hotter than the surface of the sun at your command, and that's amazing and fun to turn people on to that."

Millar's Fender Telecaster guitar sculpture required upcycled metal parts from a motorcycle, bolts, and steel plates. He used TIG welding rods for the strings.

The "very introductory" classes gave his colleagues hands-on experience with something they may have been hesitant to try. Millar heard plenty of questions throughout those classes: Is welding safe? How does each welding process work? How can such high heat be generated?

"It was a great opportunity to get Silicon Valley people, whose lives have been focused on high tech and software, turned on to welding, welding processes, and [to] remove some of the mystery," he said.

Millar entered his first art show six or seven years ago. Since then, his work has been featured in breweries, galleries, and at art and wine shows in the Santa Cruz area.

He sold his first piece in 2017 at an art show. He still feels excited when someone is willing to pay for his work.

"It's very gratifying and I’m honored that they like it that much," Millar said. His work ranges from big to small, from motionless to kinetic.

In late 2022, Millar was one of a dozen Santa Cruz-area artists featured at the local R. Blitzer Gallery's Confluence Art Show. And earlier this year, Millar was one of several artists featured at the New Beginnings exhibit at Pajaro Valley Arts in Watsonville, Calif.

In 2017, the City of Cupertino's Arts and Culture Commission gave Millar its Emerging Artist award. He still sees himself as emerging and in a "novice/startup mode" when it comes to getting his work seen outside of Silicon Valley.

"I’ve had some questions to other artists, talked to some painters who are nationally known. It seems like [paintings are] a little easier because they can crate up a painting and shipping's not that hard," he said. "I have an 800-lb. sculpture that's weirdly shaped with moving pieces. Those seem harder, more expensive to ship.

"I’ve gotten it before from friends asking, ‘Why don't you just quit work and do this instead? Because you have this passion for welding and turning people on to it,’" he added. "I would be torn because it is a passion of mine, but having to pay bills by being creative would be tough. I have nothing but respect for the full-time artists who are able to make rent and pay bills," he said.