Brett Stenson’s sculptural work emerges from a fascination with the subtleties of materiality, memory, and loss. Originally drawn to illustration and the worlds of vinyl toys and modeling, he gravitated toward wood as a medium that felt deeply connected to warmth and handcraft. His early experiments with a simple knife gradually evolved, integrating clay modeling as a way to sketch out ideas before committing to wood. This approach gives his sculptures a careful balance between spontaneity and thoughtful composition.
Many of his pieces feature woodland animals — foxes, bears, raccoons — often carrying fish or flowers. These figures carry a visual poetry, hinting at narratives that feel at once familiar and slightly uncanny. Lately, however, his work has shifted inward, reflecting on personal loss. The death of his dog led him into an exploration of retro tech — antique televisions, old telecommunication devices — as symbols of attempts to reach beyond absence. The peculiar combination of fauna and obsolete machinery becomes a visual metaphor for communicating across boundaries.
Stenson also works professionally as a Senior Art Director at a branding and packaging studio, bringing a disciplined eye to his sculptural practice. His experience in visual design seems to inform the precision, balance, and thoughtful detail evident in each carved work. Whether in the texture of bark, the curvature of a fox’s muzzle, or the delicate interplay between animal and device, his pieces sustain a quiet tension between whimsy and melancholy.
What emerges across his body of work is a meditation on connection in the face of absence. His pieces suggest that even when communication fails — or when loved ones have passed — objects and symbols can become stand-ins for memory. In the interplay between living form and inert technology, he maps a subtle terrain where grief, imagination, and longing coexist. Let his sculptures linger in your thoughts long after you’ve seen them.
More info: Website, Instagram.
