Michael Burns

Michael Burns is an artist and sculptor based in Madison, Wisconsin. He creates freestanding and wall-mounted works of art that extract a gentle sense of movement from a range of hard materials. Burns is drawn to the complex properties of steel, bronze, copper and stainless steel to construct his artwork. He frequently combines metal with materials like glass, wood and stone. His site-specific sculptural work calls for unique solutions to challenging design commissions, in interior and exterior locations. 

Inspiration for Burns comes from the response of the materials but also the setting for a planned installation, whether outside in nature or inside a built environment.  

Abstractions are everywhere around us, real as the physical world seems the artist observes. "I look to transform the strength of the raw materials I'm working with into something expressions that breathe with life and brings viewers into the conversation."

Burns's artwork includes sculptures that grace dramatic inside spaces and others that stand artistic as intriguing sentinels in public and private gardens. Commissions appear in many locations around Wisconsin and the Midwest.