Steve Heine

A late bloomer, I graduated from the University of Kentucky College of Architecture in 1996 as an older, non-traditional student. I began my small studio Cranium Design in 1998, creating commissioned art while raising two smart, confident daughters.

An architect by education, I embrace the ethos of modernist architect Mies van der Rohe: one where less can be more and god is in the details. I see my spare, honed, reductive artwork as a response to the noise of the world.

I currently work primarily with laser-cut steel, using small magnets in my work as both an elegant connection of steel to steel and a visual design element.

Although I’ve never practiced traditional architecture, I consider my multi-layered artwork—its construction, the in-between spaces and the subtle play of light and shadow—as small-scale architecture.

I’ve received support from the Kentucky Arts Council and the Great Meadows Foundation.

My home studio/exhibition space is open by appointment: 502.931.7564 or craniumglass@gmail.com. On Instagram I’m @craniumglass.