Q&A with sculptor and landscape installation artist Bradley Duncan.
Bradley’s work is our latests obsession and he is the curator of our current series on Instagram.
Describe what you do.
I use land and organic material to construct site-specific environments and sculptures.
How is your artwork different from your landscaping?
My practice can be broken down to three integrated categories. Space, the forming of areas. Sculpture, constructing of objects. Land, applying an order to the terrain. My artwork and landscaping speak the same language, they are one in the same.
How does the environment inform your artwork?
Living in LA, I can leave my house and be in the desert, next to the ocean, or on the top of a mountain in no time. I get a lot of charge being in nature, and absorbing myself in my environment. Color, Shade, and the overall feeling I receive from my surroundings come out in my art process.
Who are your influences?
I’m influenced by the systems of Sol Lewitt, Donald Judd, the Japanese Mono-ha movement, and architect Carlo Scarpa.
If you listen to music while you work, what do you listen to?
Music set the tempo and rhythm for my work days. I’m into experimental sounds, international and local djs, and house. I’m
most productive working in the field listening to a set that goes on for hours, I like music that takes me on a journey. Some of my favorite artists are Nicolas Jaar, SOHN, Atish, Mark Slee, Hoj and Damien Lazarus.
Describe your dream project?
Hotels have been on my mind lately. I like working with intimate spaces and communal open areas. A hotel is a platform where both exist.
What would people be surprised to know about you?
If I told, there would no longer be a surprise.
What do you love about getting your hands dirty?
It’s rare for me not to have soil under my nails. I love lifting heaving things and breaking a sweat. There is nothing more accomplishing that creating your vision through getting dirty.
Describe the first time you encountered landscapes, or working in soil.
Growing up, my dad was a farmer turned semi truck driver with a part time grass mowing business. I starting mowing grass with him at an early age. Through mowing I observed how a lot of people interpreted planting and landscape. I found my passion for land work through my father.
Your pieces which deal with pegs have a quality to them, based on the light of the day. Is that a consideration when creating?
I started playing with subtleties and minimalism during my time in the painting and sculpture department at The School of The Art Institute of Chicago. My recent body of work, The Peg Work series, responds to light creating geometric shadows that at times can feel as if they are vibrating. The shadows change depending on the time of the day and the amount of natural, or artificial light they receive.
