Featured Artist Wayne Brungard

Artist Wayne Brungard’s abstract metal and wood sculptures explore the dynamics of personal relationships. More of his art can be seen by visiting his website.

 

 

During times of social upheaval, art often ushers in new paradigms by opening unmapped ways of understanding more fully those around us. Individuals are the threads of society and it’s the relationship between individuals that weaves the fabric of community and culture.

 

 

The strength and appeal of this weaving is determined by the pattern that is followed.

 

 

Societal challenges, as well as the more intimate challenges in the life of an individual or family, are always and most fundamentally solved through close and lasting relationships. Central to my work is the searching for unseen or under-recognized patterns for sustaining relationships.

 

 

This searching, this mining for gestures of implied emotions captures the dynamics of human relationships, dynamics that result in feelings of connectedness. We create meaningful bonds and connections by what we do with another, what we do for another, and what we do at the request of the other; doing the work to express what doesn’t exist in consciousness.

 

 

These relationships are constructed out of interactions, reciprocal expressions of love/caring, of shared purpose and mutual commitments. The dynamics of feeling understood, of being validated, frequently result in a common bond between individuals that are built on reciprocal expressions of shared emotions.

 

 

It is these shared emotions through a common purpose that form the bond of a relationship.

 

 

As an experienced sculptor exploring these abstract realities, I construct bold silhouettes in patined bronze and wood. These sculptures express the gestures that retrieve deeply felt and universally sought connections that are built on emotions such as happiness, joy, gentleness, compassion and kindness—connections that can bridge the gulf that separates individuals.

 

 

My vision is to express the fundamental role of relationships through art that pleases the eye, gladdens the heart and enlivens the soul.

 

 

The importance of relationships and being connected is evident in the selection of dissimilar materials often used in creating my freestanding sculptures, for instance—bronze and wood. Each material has fundamental characteristics that display their inherent beauties and strengths. Together they lend their respective strengths and beauties to enhance the whole.

 

 

Unlike most of the freestanding sculptures, the bas-reliefs are composed of a single material—bronze. Portions of the bas-relief are cast bronze while other parts are wrought bronze. While all parts are welded together to make a whole, the use of both cast and wrought bronze allows for the use of dissimilar textures and patinas that each play a significant part in the creation of the message that is represented.

 

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