When Portland-based artist Brett Stenson was finding out illustration in school, he frolicked with just a few industrial designers with whom he pored over how issues had been made. “We spent a lot of late nights watching 3D modeling tutorials, geeking out over sculpted clay figures, and rewatching the Wētā Workshop DVD about building The Lord of the Rings sets,” he tells Colossal. Stenson was particularly fascinated by the world of vinyl toys and wished he knew how you can make his personal, though the educational curve felt steep.
The artist’s pursuits started to shift as he thought of extra approachable mediums to attain what he wished to make. “Even then, wood always felt like the material I connected with most,” he says. “I was drawn to antique and vintage objects—things that felt like they had been made by hand, with warmth and intention. Vinyl, as cool as it was, never quite resonated in the same way.”
In 2018, Stenson signed up for a workshop at Wildcraft, a studio faculty primarily based in Portland, to discover ways to make Norse carved-wood Christmas ornaments. “Suddenly, I could see the endless possibilities—if I could sketch it, I could carve it,” the artist says. “The tools, the process, even the idea of becoming one of those old guys who wanders around a woodworking store all day—it all felt deeply romantic and aligned with who I wanted to grow into.”
Stenson began with a easy knife and start whittling away at hunks of timber, solely to search out that he rapidly wanted to improve to raised instruments in order that the method didn’t take ceaselessly. He additionally launched clay modeling, composing animals, figures, and different objects in a extra malleable materials earlier than committing to wooden. Targeted on whittling bears and different woodland creatures, which frequently carry freshly plucked fish or flowers, he emphasizes emotional notion by way of animals—the candy slyness of a fox or an enthralling bear pleased with its recent catch.
“Lately, my obsession with carving bears has started to shift,” Stenson says. “I find myself more interested in exploring the human side of my work.” For the reason that latest lack of his canine, he’s been exploring a theme that, no less than at first, appears unrelated, however outdated know-how like retro televisions, satellites, outdated computer systems, and disused telecom gear play into what he describes as “a kind of futile attempt to communicate with him again.” He provides that he’s thinking about how there “all these tools we built to connect with one another, and yet the afterlife remains out of reach.”
Stenson can also be the Senior Artwork Director of Younger Jerks, a branding and packaging design studio primarily based in Brooklyn. See extra work on his web site and Instagram, and discover display screen prints on the market in his store.
