Bryant Holsenbeck

Environmental Artist

“I make art inspired by the natural world using the cast-offs of our society that I find everywhere I look.”

Sculpture

I make the animals I see around me. They inspire me and give me hope. They are beautiful. They are survivors of our own human neglect and greed. I feel such gratitude for them.

I feel fortunate that somehow despite it all a world of wild animals lives around me. As we remove their natural habitats somehow these animals continue to live. So far, with wild life, trees and forests, rivers and lakes, we human animals, together make up the precarious web that is our life.

Gallery Representation

Public Art

As an environmental artist, I collect detritus–everyday objects which were used and thrown away, and make them into art. These works are about our environment and our culture. My installations and residencies are both meditations and questions. Where does all this “stuff” come from? Where does it go? What do we do with it? Why is it here?

Wherever I am invited to make public art, the input of the local community is paramount. From collecting materials, to installing each work, the participation of others is a large part of the process. The strength of this work comes from the working together in community.

Working With Kids

I love working with kids. They have such energy and determination and great ideas. First a school or organization contacts me. Together, after learning the age range we come up with ideas for the student to implements. My favorite big projects have been the Weaving Like a Bird projects. I have worked with students to make dragon flies, butterflies, birds, flowers and fish and even a pumpkin vine. What happens is always a collaboration between the school or organization, the students and me.