The Artist:

Born in 1963 in Van Nuys, California, Vince Alcouloumre's fascination with metal and electricity began when, as a toddler, he inserted a key into an electrical outlet. Shocked, he lived not only to tell the tale but to continue a lifetime of artistic and scientific metal-electrical experimentation.  This fearless and unrestricted curiosity has guided Vince down the unpredictable paths that comprise his career.

Vince maintains the integrity of his artistic quest - the blending of electricity and metal - throughout its varied manifestations. Each pursuit has provided Vince with an opportunity to embark in a different direction while developing his essential interest.  Underlying the beauty of the Volta Series of anodized aluminum functional art, and extending along the full spectrum of Vince's sculptural and product designs, is a consistent perfectionism; a signature quality found above all in his concern for balance, structural logic, surface detail and operational purity. Although each phase of Vince's artistic development addresses a different challenge in seemingly disparate media, a fundamental sense of continuity exists.  Vince's creations, for all their variety, are rooted in his sense of aesthetic purpose to which he has remained true: create things that he has not seen before with a heightened quality of craftsmanship. 

Vince's creative methods are unique, and have evolved from 20+ years of design and fabrication experience, 7 years of consumer electronics product development and over 5 years of CNC machining. By utilizing traditional industrial machinery and materials in unusual and surprising ways, Vince redefines metal as an ultimate expression of useful beauty: objects d'art and desire. Vince draws upon his expert skill in forming and finishing techniques, and machine shop fabrication methods including mill, lathe, band saw, laser cutting, welding, sheet metal forming, etc. to transform industrial materials into sculpture. In addition to aluminum, Vince enjoys working with a variety of plastics, steel and stainless steel, glass, wood and textiles.

As Creative Director for 15Kv Design, Vince applies his diverse background in metal and electrical sculpture to design and produce the 2010 Volta Series collection of luxury tableware and accessories.

The Back Story:

Disassembling, modifying and reassembling tricycles, bicycles and small electrical appliances at a very early age, Vince's interest and aptitude in mechanical pursuits was actively encouraged. Then, at age 6, Vince received from his parents the life-altering gift of a Honda QA50 motorcycle.

Riding and working on motorcycles led Vince to tinker on cars and other vehicles. Vehicular modification spurred Vince on to become an expert MIG and TIG welder, and the eventual owner/operator of V-Mar, a performance automotive shop specializing in Volkswagen-based off-road and drag racing. Soon after, Vince founded, managed, and drove for the professionally sponsored V-Mar Rasta Racing Team, a 21 person race team that regularly competed in the SCORE Desert Series Class 5-1600, including the infamous Baja 1000.

Vince's continued passion for motorcycles evolved into a second incarnation. Known as V-Mar Racing, Vince designs and manufactures a retail product line of over 60 parts and accessories for trials motorcycles.  As owner and operator of V-Mar Racing, Vince executes all aspects of the business including product design, manufacturing, graphic design and packaging, marketing and distribution, website design and hosting, as well as event photography (www.vmar.com)

Other bases of experience include Vince's accomplishments as a teenager: mastering the art of stained glass and receiving various commissions; operating a stereo repair service while working part-time at an independent record store; and summers apprenticing with a Southern California electrician on new commercial and residential construction projects. At the age of 17, Vince's world expanded once again when he purchased his first computer (an Apple II+) and began programming.

Continuing to sharpen his skills and develop a strong knowledge of metal fabrication, soon Vince began accepting custom metal commissions such as residential furniture, staging and rigging for San Francisco School of Circus Arts, prototypes for medical device companies, components for video and film installations, retail store displays and decorative sculpture for homes and restaurants.

Vince has created large scale metal sculpture and art installations, and participated in various projects as a performance artist, costumer and theatrical lighting technician, for events such as Burning Man (1995-2003), and Oregon Country Fair (1996-2007). Other projects included building a Tesla coil, constructing the fully automated 25' Solar Powered Bubble Tower (www.solarpoweredbubbles.com), sound and broadcast engineering for professional motocross competitions, and owning/operating WINO-FM - a pirate radio station in the Napa Valley (www.wino.com).

In 2001, Vince's unusual combination of experience, skill sets and design talent resulted in his being recruited as an early member of the OQO, Inc. team that conceived and designed the world's smallest PC - winner of Popular Mechanics Editor's Choice Award 2009, Japan's 2007 Good Design Award, Gizmodo Best of CES 2007 and Wired Magazine's Best Mobile Computer 2007, among others.  As Senior Product Designer and Senior Fabrication Engineer until 2009, Vince was one of the primary architects for the OQO Models 01, 01+, 02 and 02+ ultra-personal computers, designing Thixo-molded magnesium housings, plastic injection molded components, specialized hardware including novel spring designs, rubber molded components, and a variety of sheet metal parts (www.oqo.com).