stephen hansen
as an artist i am not an explorer of the human condition, so much as a hapless tourist, making
snapshots of whatever strikes my fancy. i work primarily in paper mache, the appeal of which is
twofold. first, it is fast enough that i can try out ideas without any sense of commitment.
secondly, it is a material so inherently humble that i can claim to make “cultural icons” or
“distilled social observations” with out feeling too pretentious. stylistically, i think of my work
as lifelike rater than realistic, a choice made out of a desire to represent ideas rather than
individuals. i make sculptures with the idea that it should both attract and communicate.
towards that end, i try to create art that is intellectually accessible and aesthetically seductive.
i approach my workday as though i were director of a small reparatory company, with a group of
actors that i costume and coerce into the character in the story i want to tell. they tend to overact.
