Bryant Holsenbeck’s Wild, Recycled Animals

Bryant Holsenbeck creates enchanting animal forms from “discarded stuff”—old upholstery fabrics, cast-off yarn and string—that, refreshingly, are more wild and true-to-life than they are cute or cuddly. The Durham, NC–based artist uses wood and wire to carefully shape her wild animals into easily recognizable poses (a crouching bird, a wobbly fawn, a chipmunk poised on its hind legs); their realism evokes just a hint of taxidermy. Because Holsenbeck crafts the creatures’ bodies so precisely, so familiarly, and because her recycled materials lend a bit of natural unruliness, each handmade animal radiates personality and attitude.

The artist is making a powerful statement about our shrinking relationship with nature, and about the impact of our throwaway culture; that she’s doing so with such intriguing, effectively wild pieces makes her work resonate all the more.

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