Brian Savage is a multi-disciplinary artist, designer and sculptor.
Working in a variety of mediums and materials, he often finds a complimentary tone and strength in metal, both cast and welded. In reclaimed and deteriorated materials he finds history and a new story, a new mythology to be ventured.
Savage’s subject matter has an equal diversity – musical instrument forms, land and ocean creatures, objects of tribal ritual, root meanings, additive homages to the masters of art and design, deterioration and abandoned civilizations, life cycles in gestation and countless more.
The images contained in his first books during the early 1970’s; The Ocean World of Jacques Cousteau, impressed a curiosity and exploration of our planet, natural life cycles, the importance of caring for the environment and connecting as observers and stewards. Other books in the family library had great influence too – African Mythology and Art, The World of the American Indian – countless hours taking in the images of tribal peoples and the sacred objects they created. National Geographic was like a dessert treat and in Conran’s New House Book, Brian discovered ideas can be sketched, planned and built into a reality.
Growing-up on the Maine coast, island life was filled with boats, extreme weather, self-sufficiency, lobster fishing and building micro structures made of sticks and pine needles for woodland spirits. Brian played among the ruins of a nineteenth-century granite quarrying and carving operation that had occupied one of the islands. Unearthed lichen-coated granite carvings or a broken piece of sculpture gave way to wonder about the people who hand-carved these stone works, what their lives were like and the stories they lived. From his father: taking a time for the senses – sniffing the air, listening to the birds before and after a storm can fill you with a different awareness, a kind of DYI primal reasoning over technology. These sensory moments create a type of visual poetry and aesthetic that Brian considers in each work.