Emerging Dragon

Dutch/Australian Artist and Stainless steel expert Mike (Michael) Van Dam, born in New Zealand and living in Queensland – Gold Coast Australia and father of two children, creates sculptures made from stainless steel chain. He creates high aesthetic artwork, and was mentioned as one of the most innovative and eminent contemporary realist and hyper-realist international artists by ‘Mykonos, Greece, Rarity Gallery’.

The material, the chain he uses for his Sculptures is 4mm and 6mm 316 marine grade stainless steel. Once the links are welded together the structure becomes strong and durable, ideal for the coastal, commercial, public environment and luxury homes, hotels and yachts.

This high quality material he selected after intense research for all his artworks, he can easily manipulate when it comes to changing size or shape and it is a material that will literally last for hundreds of years.

Michael Van Dam is an expert in Metal, due to his Sheet Metal worker by trade profession, specialized in Stainless Steel, and passionate by Contemporary Art and Sculptures since almost ten years.

Only few years ago, in 2010 Van Dam created his first Sculpture using 4mm stainless steel chain, inspired by other artworks after visiting the Swell Sculpture Festival held on the Gold Coast. He decided to try his hand at sculpting. This first artwork called “Breaching Whale” is 270cm high and 350cm long and weighs approximately 450kg. A similar large Whale, created 2015 is now exposed at Luxury Resort One&Only, Hayman Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia.

In 2013 Van Dam entered his first Sculpture exhibition in Australia. The Swell Sculpture Festival is held every year on the Gold Coast at Currumbin Beach. Van Dam’s piece titled ‘Degrees of Separation’, a Five Link Sculpture – ‘For every Action there is a Chain Reaction’ – and won the Emerging Artist award and the Artist Peer award.

He also exposed at the Swell Sculpture Art Festival in 2014 with a piece titled ‘Intervention’ where he won the Max Fabre Environmental Awareness award. In 2014 Van Dam also exhibited in Sculpture at Sawmillers and Sculpture By The Sea, both in Sydney, and started first collaborations with Art Galleries in Sydney, increased his visibility through expositions at the International Airport Queensland, Gold Coast, ‘ The Hatchler – a Turtle’ -, Dolphins at Sydney Harbor and further locations around Australia.

In 2015 he was invited again to expose at the Swell Sculpture festival and entered ‘Emerging Dragon’ – a large Chinese Dragon, a 3, 50 m high Sculpture – 4000m of chain, and was awarded both Kids and People’s Choice award.