J Shia, Builder

J Shia is an internationally known, award-winning custom motorcycle designer and builder. She is the founding proprietor of Madhouse Motors, LLC of Boston, Massachusetts, and has been featured on platforms such at The New York Times, NPR, Forbes Magazine, The Institute of Contemporary Art, The Boston Globe, BMW, Harley Davidson, Ebay Motors and more. J Shia is the youngest, only living female, and only Arab-American to have a motorcycle acquired by Harley Davidson. J has spoken Honorarium at Brown University, Northeastern University, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, and the BMW 100 year Berlin conference.

J’s work is defined by a distinctive practice that transforms unconventional objects into functional works of art. Drawing inspiration from sources as varied as musical instruments, antique kitchen equipment, and medical devices, she reimagines everyday materials and unexpected components through the medium of the motorcycle. The resulting works are both mechanically precise machines and sculptural forms, blurring the boundaries between industrial design and contemporary art while giving familiar materials an entirely new purpose and presence.

Artist’s Mission

J Shia blends sculpture, engineering, and vehicle design to create meticulously crafted custom motorcycles that function as singular works of art. Trained in fine art and working as a fabricator, she approaches the motorcycle as a sculptural medium—one where structure, material, and movement are integral to the form.

Her works have been exhibited in galleries, museums,
and cultural institutions, where the presentation of a vehicle within a fine art context challenges conventional boundaries between craft, design, and contemporary sculpture. By placing mechanical objects within the gallery environment, her practice invites viewers to reconsider the aesthetic and cultural potential of engineered forms.

Through this work, J Shia contributes to an emerging dialogue around vehicles as a legitimate medium within contemporary art, expanding the materials and forms that occupy the gallery floor.

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Career Highlights

Key Builds

The Pareidoilia Series

Began in 2017, the Pareidolia Series is a four-part project comprising four unique motorcycles, all of which function unconventionally and have been constructed in a nontraditional style. J is inadvertently bridging the gap between today’s motorcycle community and the fine art world.
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Micro Illumination

J’s fascination with illumination exists not only within motorcycles and their components, but also in more contemporary fixture creation.

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Bugatti ATV

J’s current work-in-progress — one of the more challenging projects she has ever taken on — is a hybrid Bugatti ATV, aptly dubbed “The Super Quad.”
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