Daily Inspiration: Meet Kyle Auga

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kyle Auga. 

Hi Kyle, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I started making kinetic balancing sculptures near the end of 2011. My first one took me 12 hours to make because I was not just learning how to make things that balanced, but learning how to work with metal from the ground up. I love the fact that the first thing I googled was “how to cut metal”! I had to do it on a budget as well as a near-broke college student at the time. 

Since then, I have taught myself how to braze, grind, TIG weld as well as metal finishing techniques including polishing and some machining. While my focus is making sculptures that balance, I have also studied a lot of artist sculpting skills as well as drawing, cartoon basics, and an understanding of the human anatomy. My style and designs range from cute and simple designs like a “cartoonified” airplane to very anatomically correct bodybuilders that have a more serious and fine art style to them. 

I love making a wide range of designs that are simple and fun, highly quality “toys” that anyone from children to adults can enjoy. At the same time, I enjoy the pursuit of making more serious “fine art” that can be admired in high-end settings by corporate executives, lawyers, etc. 

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road has been anything but smooth. There were many times I thought about not doing it anymore due to lack of funds, space, tools, life changes, etc. Over the nearly 10 years I have been making metal sculptures, my life, like many, has gone through massive changes. 

In 2016, one of my sculptures went viral over social media – amassing an estimated 30 million views across all platforms. After this event, my small hobby turned into a full-time business. Over the next 3 years or so, I did this as a living! However, over time, it started to become apparent that doing it full time took the creative, fluid, and fun side out of metal sculpting. Depending on this craft as a means of income was a difficult and stressful process. I knew then that I needed a career that would allow me the flexibility and freedom to only create sculptures that I WANTED to make. 

In 2018 I made the decision to allow my metalworking to become a side business again as I went to flight school to become an airline pilot. I still managed to run my business and make a livable income while learning to fly planes! Fast forward to June of 2021, I got offered my first job as an airline jet pilot and my welding and flying skills have both seen massive leaps in growth. 

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
To date, the accomplishment I am most proud of is having one of my sculptures commissioned for and featured in the movie, Free Guy starring Ryan Reynolds which released in theaters the summer of 2021. I also have a sculpture (known as Kyle’s Rolling Pendulum) that was featured in an HPE Greenlake commercial which aired on many channels including NFL and Fox Studios. 

The other side of being an artist that I am most proud of is my business skillset. I have created a brand for myself (Kyle’s Kinetics), built my own website from the ground up, taught myself product photography that would set my sculptures apart, and editing videos for social media with the foresight to know what engages people in a video with proper lighting, a story and creative editing. From concepts and ideas to the finished sculpture and products, I do it all! From my welding bench to the customers’ door; everything from sales to custom packaging design, marketing, shipping, I’ve had to figure it all out. 

Beyond all of that, it is without a doubt, the coolest feeling to see something I made with my hands in a movie on the big screen and TV commercials. Having those that follow me and like my work message me saying they saw my design on TV is incredibly humbling and rewarding. 

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
I think that my drive for “the next design” is what keeps me going. I see other very incredible and talented artists across all media types that inspire and push me to learn and improve. Artists which make me think “Wow, I could never make something like THAT” press my abilities to try and get to their level. After creating a new design, assuming it comes out as I imagined, the feeling is indescribable. THAT feeling of making something new is something I will chase for the rest of my life. Even as great as that feeling it, it is very fleeting. When you’re obsessed like this, you’re never fully satisfied – like a thirst you can never fully quench. 

Without this obsessive drive for “the next thing” I would have quit a long time ago. It is thanks to this obsession that I pushed myself through flight school so that I could continue to chase the designs I WANT to make without the pressure of needing to fulfill orders for financial stability. 

Pricing:

• Basic and simple toy designs – $100-$200
• Complex balancing and stationary designs range from $300-$2,000

Contact Info:

• Email: kyle@kyleskinetics.com
• Website: www.kyleskinetics.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kyles_kinetics
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/KylesKinetics
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@kyles_kinetics