Marc Swanson, Untitled (Crystal Ram), 2009, polyurethane foam, crystals, adhesive, 27 x 18 x 22 in, image courtesy of www.marcswansonstudio.com

I entered the spacious and sunny studio and first met Matthew, Marc’s studio manager and then the man himself. Both men were extremely friendly and engaging. As Marc and I began speaking, Matthew got down to work donning his latex blue gloves and adhering individual rhinestones to elk antlers. Hard to believe that this labor  intensive process is done for the even bigger projects like seated bucks and ram’s heads. But that was just one of the many projects Marc has going on.

At the age of nine he saw a Calder exhibition which confirmed his desire to be an artist. His influences are many: Rauschenberg, Gober, Bruce Conner, Koons, Kiki Smith, Jasper Johns, Joseph Cornell and Cy Twombly to name a few.

A Place in the Sun, 2008-9, wood, chain, paper, paint, polyurethane, 36 x 24 x 8 in , image courtesy of wwwmarcswansonstudio.com

The first pieces we discussed were Marc’s wooden boxes which include images veiled by chains hung at the front of the boxes. He has used movie stills from classics like “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”, but has also experimented with imagery from gay publications from the 1950s. When using the film stills, he selects films that for their day seem to be addressing important issues. However the chains can be interpreted as the viewers’ way of seeing right through the facade that the Hollywood studios presented. The boxes are beautiful but also deeper than the images used suggest. Like Jasper Johns whose work he admires, Swanson’s works are easily recognizable and relatable but are also imbued with a deeper meaning which makes the art accessible to all.

Untitled (Black Antler Pile), 2008, antlers, adhesive, jet crystals, 32 x 32 x 32 in, image courtesy of www.marcswansonstudio.com

Marc’s rhinestone works which I mentioned earlier are dazzling. Created in both silver and black he meticulously and tirelessly affixes each rhinestone to real antlers or polyurethane foam deer or ram’s head’s. These happen to be the works that he is probably best known for. When I asked why he began creating them he explained that they were very simply a blending of his two worlds in San Francisco and New Hampshire. Having grown up in new Hampshire with an ex-Marine father who hunted, Marc questioned his identity as a gay man. San Francisco and its gay community helped Marc to begin to feel comfortable with who he was. Perhaps NYC, where he now lives, is the best of both worlds.

Four unfinished assemblages stand in the center of the studio. Marc adds and removes elements until he feels a piece works. Swanson’s works typically go through many iterations before he is satisfied. One concept might take a long time to get right, but then once he gets it, he can do a few works within that same vein. People have sometimes told him to narrow his focus of creation, but Marc likes exploring different media– it keeps it interesting for him.

Marc enjoys looking at sculpture as conceptual. He told me that one can always create an installation that is liked people–the challenge for him is to do the same with a piece–one piece of sculpture.

One project that is an example of this challenge is a bronze Bison skeleton he has been working on for the Kemper Museum of Art in Kansas City. Approached by the museum to create a public sculpture, Marc proposed a memorial for the bison population that were slaughtered, decimating their 80 million population to that of 100 in a 50 year time span. Marc has created a public sculpture that will be placed in downtown Kansas City and will become part of their permanent collection. As Marc explained to me, public art is tricky because someone is always upset by what you do. But in this case, this work will help us to face what was done in order to ensure that nothing like that ever happens again. In conjunction with that work, there will also be a show on view at the museum. Visit their website for more information: http://www.kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu/

His newest work, also begins with wooden boxes. Inside he drapes plaster creating a textured three-dimensionality invoking a sense of drama and theatricality. But the negative space and void created as well as the monochromatic white of the works is also imbued with a longing and loneliness that is hard to ignore. The work is beautiful and reminds me somewhat of Piero Manzoni’s white works in its texture, size and form. However, Marc’s interest in the drape of the form makes it his own. I look forward to seeing where Marc’s work will head next.

Marc Swanson was not only generous with his time and a pleasure to talk to, but he is a wonderful and talented artist who continues to challenge himself in his craft.

Check out his website: www.marcswansonstudio.com