You may know of Mike Tikkeros’ work without knowing the man at all. His house in Kiama has become something of a local landmark.

“Have you seen the house in Kiama with all the sculptures out the front?”

But the outside is just the beginning. Once you step inside, Tikkeros’ world becomes even more fascinating.

Navigating around sculptures that fill the floors, walls and hallways, Tikkeros tells me about his upcoming exhibition at the Shellharbour Marina on October 25 and 26.

“It started when they were building the houses and the marina. I got inspired and just went crazy making boats - I made about 16 different ones. Then I was contacted to do an exhibition to showcase them,” he says.

“They were also looking for a painter, so I helped find Olivia Deans. She’s a young local artist doing these beautiful whale murals with lots of blue tones. It complements my boats perfectly - so we teamed up for a joint exhibition.”

He is constantly inspired by the world around him - and once the idea hits, he can’t ignore it.

“Everything I make is inspired by something I see. Like once I was camping and saw a goanna climbing a tree. I came home and carved one. Sometimes I’ll even see something in a piece of wood - and it just speaks to me.”

“When I worked at Cleary Brothers, I’d see forklifts, bulldozers, excavators - machines I used to operate or just admire. Now they’re all sculptures.”

His passion for making things began early.

“I’ve always been hands-on - woodwork, metalwork, art and sport. That’s what I went to school for,” he says.

“Back in my day, art wasn’t seen as a career. My parents were immigrants. They believed in hard work. Art didn’t get the same respect it does today.”

He opened a successful cafe in Kiama, running it for six and a half years - but his creativity never stopped.

“I had itchy fingers. I’d close the shop at night and go out the back to make things - chickens out of fibreglass, Coca-Cola displays out of foam, even spaghetti sculptures suspended in mid-air with glue and varnish. It never stopped.”

Tikkeros' garage/workshop

These days, Tikkeros works almost entirely with recycled materials, giving things that might otherwise be discarded a second life.

“I get parts from all over - recyclers, mates in engineering, even surgical tools when I can. I love giving things a second chance. Like tools or wires - people just throw them out,” he says.

“But I turn them into art. If I didn’t, they’d get melted down into metal mop buckets or something. I’d rather they become sculptures.”

Even something like a busted microwave can find new meaning.

But beyond repurposing, there’s something compulsive about Tikkeros’ work - as if the ideas in his head physically need to come out.

“I have to make it - whatever’s in my head. Otherwise it drives me mad. I’ve got so many ideas I can’t get them out fast enough.”

So why does he do it?

“I just love it. It’s about creating, recycling, giving something meaning again. It’s about leaving something behind that matters - not just for me, but maybe for someone who sees it and thinks differently because of it.”

Catch Mike’s extraordinary sculptures and Olivia’s beautiful paintings at the Shellharbour Marina on October 25 and 26, from 10am to 4pm.