Born in Mobile, Alabama. Left as a teen to “conquer the world” but, like many, found little satisfaction in winning the battles my world offered.
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After many years filled with various jobs and aimless endeavor, I ended up at the side of an anvil, attempting to hammer away a heartbreak. In what was, at first, simply a project to win back a lost love, I discovered what I had been missing all along:
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A means of joining the mind and body in creative work.
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In fashioning raw iron into a purposeful object, I was able to see myself working through the world and the world working through me; a world that did not need conquering but understanding, crafting, expressing.
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Most recently I’ve been attempting to fuse my philosophical and historical interests with blacksmith art in Birmingham, Alabama. The two frameworks that best express my work are found within my in-progress exhibits “Babel” and “Miscegenation”. In realizing the need to improve my craft and add cultural understanding to the projects, I undertook the journey chronicled in The New Iron Age. Ultimately, I hope to share what I’ve learned and reveal to the world the inspiring lives and work of the diverse metal artists of our time.
"Bringing visions into the light."
Hilleke has been a content creator for over 25 years contributing his various skills to all manner of productions with extensive offerings in fiction and non-fiction work.
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His work has found its way to prominent film festivals including Sundance, SXSW and TIFF and into distribution networks including HBO, Amazon, PBS and Netflix just to name a few.
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"Well versed in documentary storytelling."
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Whether it's the criminal justice system, mental health, meditation practice, adventure tourism, coaching philosophy or comedy life, Hilleke knows that story and character are paramount.
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His most recent work as the Director of Photography was a feature documentary with MGM & Trilogy Films that intimately follows
Cirque Du Soleil's "O" show as it recovers from the pandemic lockdowns.
