ARTIST INFO

TOBIAS BIRGERSSON
Bromma, Sweden

METALS | Sculpture

Penland Affiliation | Penland Instructor 2023

Artist Info | Studio artist; education: MFA Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts, and Design (Sweden); teaching: Associate Professor at University of Gothenberg Campus Steneby (Sweden), Lecturer at Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts, and Design (Sweden); representation: Gallery Sebastia Schildt (Sweden); collection: Swedish National Gallery; exhibitions: Galleri Sebastian Schildt (Stockholm, Sweden), Vida Museum (Öland, Sweden), Gallery Nutida Svenskt Silver (Stockholm, Sweden), Holländeriet (Fengersfors, Sweden), Gallery Konsthantverkarna (Stockholm, Sweden), The English Garden (Munich, Germany), PopUp Gallery (Hereford, England), Kulturcentrum (Karby Gård, Sweden); residencies: Tobiashammer Techniches Denkmahl (Ohrdruf, Germany), Southern Illinois University (Carbondale, Illinois)

Artist Statement | Material and craft used to be so important to me and to my identity. Now I tend to see the material and level of craft mastery as different colors in my box of crayons. It is both completely unimportant and so important at the same time.

Art, and probably especially craft, have a narcissistic core but loving what you do can be a powerful driving force. On the other hand, if you lack the ability to take a step back and reflect on what you have done, then you are in trouble.

Art and craft start with tradition and material. They can be mined by the contemporary maker to answer why, what, how and for whom.
How makers deal with process is up to them, as long as they do it. If all of the experimentation goes on in the realm of ideas, it is very probable that when the concept finally enters the material world it will be seriously flawed.

How to deal with the pure joy of making? Is it ever possible or okay that this might be enough for the maker, and the viewer is left to fill the object with content and context? Or would this just end up being a case of pareidolia, the mind perceiving a pattern where it doesn’t exist?

ANDREW HAYES
Asheville, NC

METALS | Sculpture

Penland Affiliation | Penland Resident Artist 2014-2017, Penland Core Fellow 2007-2009, Penland Instructor 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022

Artist Info | Studio artist; teaching: Haystack (ME), Anderson Ranch (CO), Penland; collections: Yale Art Museum (CT), Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Metal Museum (TN); representation: JHB Gallery (NYC), Seager Gray Gallery (CA), Blue Spiral 1 (NC)

Artist Bio | Andrew Hayes grew up in Tucson, Arizona, and studied sculpture at Northern Arizona University. The desert landscape inspired much of his early sculptural work and allowed him to cultivate his style in fabricated steel. After leaving school, Andrew worked in the industrial welding trade. While living in Portland, Oregon, bouncing between welding jobs and creating his own work he was invited to the EMMA Collaboration residency in Canada. This one-week experience was liberating for Andrew and he was encouraged by his fellow collaborators to apply to the Core Fellowship at Penland School of Crafts. During his time as a Core Fellow, Andrew was able to explore a variety of materials and techniques. Surprisingly, the book became a big part of this exploration. In this work, he faces the challenge of marrying the rigid qualities of metal with the delicacy of the book page.

Artist Statement | The book is a seductive object to hold and smell and run your fingers through. I am drawn to books for many reasons; however, the content of the book does not enter my work. The pages allow me to achieve a form, surface, and texture that are appealing to me. The book as an object is full of fact and story. I take my sensory appreciation for the book as a material and employ the use of metal to create a new form, and hopefully a new story.