"That's a really good video. I like how you teach other people to care about the environment like you do."
- Emily, 4th grade, Sycamore Creek Elementary School
ARTIST
STATEMENT
For over a decade now, I have
been documenting the “stuff” of our society that we use
once and throw away. Americans create more garbage, per capita, than
any other culture, yet we are blind to our waste. I believe this is
a function of our wealth, and the vastness of our country. We have
the room to hide our waste, and the money to make more. I collect many
things, among them, bottle caps, credit cards, pencils, and chop sticks.
I use these everyday items to make work, which transforms the objects
and surprises us. I am an environmentalist, receiving great joy from
the natural world. This makes me aware of how we take what we have
for granted. We are used to using “stuff” once and then
throwing it away. We may throw it away, but my work makes me aware
of its continual impact.
One of Bryant's specialties
is creating community art projects with
groups of children or adults. She will work with you to create
your own project designed for a specific event and/or group of participants,
or she will lead you in a project of her own design. Bryant also likes
to engage groups of students or adults in the making of her larger
environmental installations.
2009 - AWAY AND BACK AGAIN,
mandala installation at Fed Ex Global Education
Building, UNC, Chapel Hill, NC
2009 -
Visiting Artist, Haystack Mountain School
of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME
2009 - ACCESSIBILITY/SUSTAINABILTY--Installation
and community outreach, Cleveland St
College, TN
2000-present - Visiting artist
in Wake County and Johston County Schools
2008-09 - Artist in Residence for the Resource
Center for Women Ministry and the South,
Durham, NC
2008 - Arrowmont School of Crafts,
Instructor, summer
2006 - Instructor, Haystack
Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME
2005 - Independent book making workshop, Aarau, Switzerland
2004 - RIVER OF CAPS, an installation
made in collaboration with Winston-Salem/Forsyth Co. Schools, Sawtooth
Center, SECCA, and funded in part by the NC Arts Council.
Blackbirds, Bottle Caps, & Broken Records
DVD now available from RCWMS
For more information
or to contribute please contact The Resource
Center for Women, Ministry and the Southwww.rcwms.org
Bryant is teaching a bookmaking class Feb. 22, Mar. 1, and Mar. 8, 2010 in
Durham, NC. For more information contact RCWMS.
Bryant is doing residencies in schools throughout NC this spring. Pending
residency/installations are:
Guildford College, Greensboro, NC, August 2010
Charleston SC, October
2010
BIOGRAPHY
Bryant Holsenbeck began her arts career as a basket maker. Since that time she has evolved into an environmental artist who makes large-scale installations that document the waste stream of our society. She has shown her work and taught throughout the United States. She has been the recipient of 2 North Carolina Arts Council Fellowships, a Project Grant and an NEA Arts and Learning Grant that she worked on in collaboration with the Chapel Hill Public Arts Commission. Her installation, “River of caps” (November, 2004) was a 105 ft. fluid design of bottle caps and jar lids collected over a period of 10 years. She made this installation in collaboration with 85 high school students in Winston-Salem, NC with funding provided by the North Carolina Arts Council. She is currently working on two large projects. WHAT DO KIDS CARE ABOUT? A Labyrinth of Shoes with Souls Attached and WILD Life. She is a community artist who likes to work with groups of people to make large-scale installations using the “stuff” of our society. She is also an independent studio artist who makes books, birds, and sculptures out of recycled materials.
2009 - BLACKBIRDS BOTTLE CAPS AND BROKEN RECORDS, Environmental artist
Bryant Holsenbeck at work, a film by Margaret Morales, produced by RCWMS,
Durham, NC
