The studio is excited to welcome Steven Gordon Holman who will teach Carve Your Heart Out on November 12th and 13th, 2016. Steve is a visiting artist from Leamington, UT. Read on to learn more about his work!
CC: What experiences and people have been influential to your work?
SGH: I received BA’s in Visual Arts and Architectural Studies from Brown University in 2011. During my last Summer’s at brown I began to apprentice with Ted Harris, a Mexican American silversmith in the Navajo tradition. I was intrigued by the properties of metal and the implications for sculpture on such a small scale, and decided to pursue metalwork through graduate school. I attended SUNY New Paltz in their MFA Metal program from 2012-2014, where I began to formulate and formalize a more specific artistic vocabulary.
CC: What role does your material choice play when it comes to your craft?
SGH: I think that the use of non-traditional material, or any material for that matter, comes with specific implications and specific responsibilities in considering it as an option. No material is without history or association, and it’s important to acknowledge that. I try to select materials that are imbued with specific meaning and support the moment and story the piece is centered in. As most of my work deals with mythologies of the American west, I tend to gravitate towards antler, stones, wood, and implements of hunting and farming.
CC: What is your process for planning and creating a piece including conceptual development?
SGH: I am usually working on a few ideas or pieces at once, in various stages of finish, allowing each to formulate as I go. Some pieces are very fast and some take more consideration. I research local and global myths in an attempt to understand patterns in my personal interactions and relationships and somehow translate that into a whole piece, or part of a piece. I am also interested in contemporary hunting culture, and it’s perception and integration in mainstream pop culture.
CC: Talk about your current work and where you see it going in the future. What are you finding that is exciting to you?
SGH: Right now I am exploring some new materials, new carving methods, and formulating some new drawings as well… I can’t really say too much because as far as what I’m actually making I don’t really know!
CC: What is advice do you have for emerging artists?
SGH: I think the best advice is don’t quit. Find ways of doing your art even if it means working a full time job elsewhere and staying up just an extra hour or so to get in the studio… Everything helps. Just don’t stop working and trying to get yourself out there… Find ways of promoting yourself, a self-curated show with other artist friends is a great place to start. Find creative spaces and methods for showing work and encouraging exposure and interaction.
