IN THE STUDIO WITH...

“Some of the best conversations that I’ve had are when I’m sitting down with a student and a piece of wood, and we just start whittling together.”

Sculptor Christopher B. Wagner loves to save wood from the scrap heap and carve it into something beautiful. His facility with wood is something to behold, the result of a big range of influences: early life as a farm kid in Kentucky to a fellowship studying under master carvers in Japan. He often uses those skills to depict relationships between people and animals, with a healthy dose of whimsy.

Wagner has lived and carved all over the United States, including a long stint in Oregon where he and I collaborated on several shows. Now he’s putting down roots in Virginia and making new work, some inspired by his new teaching job at the College of William & Mary near Colonial Williamsburg. As he gave me a tour of his new workspace, we covered lots of tips and tricks, including his favorite tools, how teaching helps his practice as an artist and how he keeps from checking his phone during precious studio time.

Find his work here.

Do you need a quarter-scale clay model replica of your cartoon caterpillar? A custom foosball table? A steel bannister?

Scott Foster is your guy. A sculptor of incredible range, Foster got his start doing special effects for TV commercials. Soon he was making stop-motion puppets for movies including Coraline, The Boxtrolls and Book Smart. I met him a decade ago when he was running Good: A Gallery in Portland’s Mississippi neighborhood. During the pandemic he relocated to a beautiful spot in the country, and he’s been hard at work creating an impressive, sprawling studio.

We talked about the various projects of his artistic past and present, as well as the pitfalls and adjustments in the creative process.

Sculptor Philip A. Robinson, Jr. recently relocated to the West Coast after several years building his practice in New York and New Jersey. His pieces often combine carved wood with mirrored stainless steel, offering viewers a fluid, slightly warped, view of themselves looking at wood renderings of other people’s clothes and accessories—trying them on, in a way. I visited his studio this winter. We talked about this work, how changing communities is changing his career, and how he integrates his own artistic practice with his day job teaching fine art to middle and high schoolers.

Find his work here: https://www.philiparobinsonjr.com