Martin Antaramian, Kenosha
2016–17 RAM Artist Fellowship Award Recipient
Martin Antaramian is a sculptor from Kenosha who specializes in furniture design. A 2011 graduate of University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Antaramian uses his work to draw attention to the construction, function, and form of all objects. His recent works have been inspired by the movement of fabric. While entirely wood-carved pieces are his primary focus, he also enjoys metal work, sometimes incorporating cast bronze accents into his designs. Antaramian exhibits his work regularly and has won numerous awards, with special attention coming to recent furniture pieces that explore movement. He and his process for creating sculptural tables were featured on Handcrafted America in 2016.
Artist Statement
What makes something real? This question is what drives my artwork. We created words so that we may label and describe what we observe. The creation of a formal language completely changed the way in which we perceive our world. Our realities have become constructed around objects or ideas that we can label and understand.
The inspiration for my artwork comes from the desire to make objects that break down people’s preconceived notions of what things should look like. For me, every single object in our world is sculptural, and I encourage people to see them as such.
Most of my work is wood carving—I like to make furniture that is sculptural in order to point out that just because something serves a purpose does not mean it cannot also be a work of art. For this past year, inspired by the movement of fabric, I have been pushing the concept of wood-carving to new limits as I craft a Victorian dress out of cherry wood.
Martin Antaramian, Kenosha
2016–17 RAM Artist Fellowship Award Recipient
Photography: Camela Langendorf, Varitay Studios
Martin Antaramian is a sculptor from Kenosha who specializes in furniture design. A 2011 graduate of University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Antaramian uses his work to draw attention to the construction, function, and form of all objects. His recent works have been inspired by the movement of fabric. While entirely wood-carved pieces are his primary focus, he also enjoys metal work, sometimes incorporating cast bronze accents into his designs. Antaramian exhibits his work regularly and has won numerous awards, with special attention coming to recent furniture pieces that explore movement. He and his process for creating sculptural tables were featured on Handcrafted America in 2016.
Artist Statement
What makes something real? This question is what drives my artwork. We created words so that we may label and describe what we observe. The creation of a formal language completely changed the way in which we perceive our world. Our realities have become constructed around objects or ideas that we can label and understand.
The inspiration for my artwork comes from the desire to make objects that break down people’s preconceived notions of what things should look like. For me, every single object in our world is sculptural, and I encourage people to see them as such.
Most of my work is wood carving—I like to make furniture that is sculptural in order to point out that just because something serves a purpose does not mean it cannot also be a work of art. For this past year, inspired by the movement of fabric, I have been pushing the concept of wood-carving to new limits as I craft a Victorian dress out of cherry wood.
Interview with the Artist, January 2017
Would you please describe your work—what materials you use; what subject matters you explore?
Most of my work is wood carving—both furniture and sculpture. One of the main ideas behind my work is to break down the barriers between the two. I like to make furniture that is extremely sculptural in order to point out that just because something serves a purpose doesn’t mean it can’t also be a work of art.
How often are you in your studio? Do you work outside of your studio much or at all?
Unless I have special plans to do something, I’m in the studio 7 days a week. I very rarely do any work outside of the studio—with woodworking there is a lot of equipment needed that I don’t have at home. I will sometimes do design work outside the studio but when a single piece takes over 6 months to carve, I’m not designing new pieces all that often.
What inspires you most these days? But also what do you go to bed thinking about most nights?
The biggest inspiration for my current work came from a dream I had a few years back. I woke up at 3 am with a vision in my head of a spinning dress carved out of wood. That vision eventually turned into my Cherry Waltz Table. Since then, I have been focused on honing my carving skills so that I can create more and more realistic looking fabric in wood.
Why the RAM Artist Fellowship? Since we are midway through the process, can you assess how you are feeling at this point? Are you where you thought you would be? Have your plans changed since the fellowship year started?
I like doing as many local shows as I can. With large work it can be difficult to do shows that are farther away.
I’m feeling pretty good about the piece I’m working on for the fellowship. This one is a fairly large jump in difficulty compared to any of my previous projects and I wasn’t sure if I could even do it. But, really, this kind of challenge is one of the things I enjoy most about my work.
I’m not as far as I had hoped to be but I’m confident I’ll still finish on time. This past summer I had an accident while riding my bike and ended up spraining both my wrists. This left me unable to work at all for 6 weeks after which I could only carve for a few hours a day. But I’m happy to say that I’ve completely healed and I am pushing forward.
Sample of Work
Click/tap an image for more information
