Bradley Marshall

How did you get into making art?

I started out photographing my friends in high school quickly discovered art and art photography in undergraduate. William Eggleston was the initial impetus.

What are you currently working on?

I’m in the planning phase of a larger sculpture, returning to an unresolved work from last summer, and researching/experimenting with a few new-ish processes in my studio. Two works will end up in a show this Fall. The sculptures that I’m currently working on use press-fitting joinery–-used in the cheap construction of wooden models and flat-pack furniture–-to better understand how commercial design, scarcity, and spatial politics play out in a present moment where our objects are increasingly–if not fully–mediated through digital/virtual space.

What inspired you to get started on this body of work?

All of my work is informed by previous works and/or projects that split off and eventually converge. Working iteratively I can expand on themes, shift focus, and/or insert new elements into what I consider an ever-evolving process of codification surrounding ideas, materials, images, and objects. All the while, I am hoping for accidents, failures, and digressions to introduce themselves and to stay sensitive to these opportunities.

Do you work on distinct projects or do you take a broader approach to your practice?

I typically produce work for shows or other commitments and rely on the arc of that process to serve as both container and bookend for projects. I work through ideas, materials, and processes slowly so there are overarching themes and throughlines between projects and works but I’m often thinking primarily about how works will look and function together in a particular space during their development. I often return to previous forms, images, and symbols that I have used to re-examine their meaning and/or mutability.

What’s a typical day like in your studio?

I work a 9-5 job so studio time is staked out in advance and unfortunately often relegated to nights and weekends. I split my time between a studio space and fabrication shop where I do metal and wood work. There are times when I’m experimenting and researching and things are expansive and loose, and there’s production mode–which also brings surprises, but has to lead to some sort of resolution. Sometimes the days are long and require grinding welds for 6 hours and other days I work with cheap clay or walk around looking for trash. I like to think that this work/play dichotomy comes out in the work.

Who are your favorite artists?

So, so many artists–but I’m most excited by the work that my friends are making.

Where do you go to discover new artists?

Friends, Google