Shape Shifter
In the hands of artist Bryan Christiansen, discarded furniture parts become sculptural deer and animal skulls
"Doe"
Bryan Christiansen
Found teal loveseat, 64 x 59 x 24 inches
Stremmel Gallery
1400 South Virginia Street
Reno, NV 89502
775-786-0558
stremmelgallery.com
THE ARTIST: Bryan Christiansen
BEST KNOWN FOR: Transforming discarded furniture parts into sculptural deer and animal skulls.
INSPIRATION: “Much of my inspiration comes from nature and my adolescence growing up in the Midwest. A lot of my early work was directly related to learning to hunt when I was young. I spent all my free time exploring the forest in those days, and those experiences continue to inform my work on many different levels."
THE THRILL OF THE HUNT: "Initially my work used hunting as an archetype. I would go out and look for furniture the same way you would hunt for an animal—in alleyways, behind thrift stores, in dumpsters, on curbs. Remaking the object into a deer was about giving it life, a sort of Dadaist endeavor."
ON DUMPSTERS AND DEER: “Furniture is an anthropological object. Our lives unfold in, around and on those objects, and the discarded pieces are remnants of people's lives. I get to continue that history into something new. When someone views the finished piece and realizes it was originally a couch or a mattress, they bring the entirety of their experience with those objects to the sculpture. Not many people would walk up and touch the couch or mattress on the curb, but once it's been remade into something as approachable and docile as a deer, they become intrigued; they want to touch, pet and even kiss them."
