Bryant Holsenbeck | |
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![]() Bryant Holsenbeck posing next to her installation for the H20 exhibition at the Greenhill Center for the Arts. Photographer Barbara Tyroler. | |
Known for | Mixed media environmental art |
Bryant Holsenbeck is a mixed media environmental artist, activist, educator, and author based in Durham, North Carolina.
Holsenbeck's father was a textile engineer. [1] Holsenbeck earned her bachelor's degree in sociology and her Master of Education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. [2]
Holsenbeck uses a variety of both natural and human-made materials to create art out of repurposed items that might otherwise be discarded. [3] Her artwork includes wrapping and weaving techniques, wire sculpting, small animal sculptures, and large-scale installations. Examples of her work include small bird sculptures made with discarded materials and large waterfall installations made of plastic bottles. [4]
Holsenbeck's environmental art conveys importance of wildlife, draws attention to ecological devastation and the abundance of plastic waste in the United States, and promotes environmental stewardship. [3] [5] [6]
Holsenbeck has exhibited her artwork and taught workshops for both adults and children in the United States, Australia, and France. [7] [4] She has received a variety of grants and residencies to pursue her environmental arts career. [8]
In 2010, Holsenbeck took on the challenge of living a full year without single-use plastic. [7] She wrote a book about this experience in which she incorporated environmental reflections and artwork, titled The Last Straw: A Continuing Quest for Life without Disposable Plastic, which was published in 2018. [9]
Holsenbeck was a North Carolina Arts Council Artist Fellowship Recipient for her work in the visual arts in 1997 and 2001. [10]
Holsenbeck co-founded The Scrap Exchange, a creative reuse nonprofit located in Durham, North Carolina. [11]
Holsenbeck's book The Last Straw: A Continuing Quest for Life without Disposable Plastic was published by RCWMS in 2018. [12]
In 2019, PBS published a short documentary feature on Holsenbeck, titled "Bryant Holsenbeck: Environmental Artist." [13] Holsenbeck was featured by authors Kristin Schwain and Josephine Stealey in their 2017 book Rooted, Revived, Reinvented: Basketry in America. [14]
In 2009, RCWMS published a fifteen-minute documentary on Holsenbeck created by filmmaker Margaret Morales, titled Blackbirds, Bottle Caps & Broken Records: Environmental Artist Bryant Holsenbeck at Work. [15]