WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — An artist is turning relics from the past into world class art. Erik Jensen is appropriately nicknamed “The Keyboard Artist” because he transforms keys from discarded computer keyboards into brilliant landscapes and portraits.
“Everything in our world is a form of pixelation,” he said. “This is just a lot less definition.”
The lifelong Utahn also incorporates quotes hidden among the keys in his works of art. His pieces have gained worldwide accolades and are featured in galleries in Park City, Las Vegas and Israel.
“I started getting a bunch of the beige ones [keyboards] from the 90’s and I was like, wow there is so much history and beauty. Nobody is making art out of them. Nobody is showing them off,” he said.
He pulls out the keys, dyes them every color of the rainbow and uses those small pieces of plastic to create the art. Some of his pieces have been sold to the world’s top technology firms.
Jensen’s road to success wasn’t always a smooth path. Several years ago, he posted a video of his work on social media. The video was met with dozens of mean and hateful comments because of the background noise.
“I have hearing loss, so I have an implant. I wasn't thinking about the music or the sound. I was just trying to do a cool video,” said Jensen, who was born deaf.
Some of the comments were personal and hurtful.
“They were making fun of me because I was a deaf artist. So the person that posted it said, ‘Oh he's a deaf artist. Only deaf people can make art like this,” Jensen said.
The online trolls helped Jensen’s video go viral. And all the views his video received exposed his work to art collectors looking for something new. “It changed my career, it really made me who I am today and it made my name recognizable,” he said.
Jensen realizes the time will come when he runs out of those light colored keyboards so vital to his art. They are antiques and are no longer produced in large quantities.
Until then, he will continue to bring life back to these once forgotten pieces of plastic that produced the keystrokes that shaped the world. “That’s our culture. I am trying to preserve that history and bring it back and bring beauty into something that was trash,” he said.
You can see more of Erik’s art here.
