KEVIN BROWNLEE

Kevin Brownlee talks about his artistic inspirations and process behind making his one of a kind sculptures using recycled aluminum.

 

ARTIST STATEMENT

Kevin Brownlee was born in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1957. Growing up in a family of artists, Kevin was exposed to the process of working in art from a very young age. His father, Edward Brownlee, a successful sculptor and painter, was inspirational to Kevin throughout his life.

After a career as a salmon biologist in Alaska, Kevin now lives on the north coast of Oregon. Working with reclaimed woods and cast metal, he draws strong influence from the art, culture, and natural history of Asia, Pacifica, and the Pacific Northwest.

Kevin collaboratively built a foundry in an old horse barn with Dave Robertson, a sculptor and jeweler. Bringing history full circle, their furnace is hand built and they use the same forged tools that Dave used in the foundry that he and Kevin’s father worked in together many years ago in Honolulu. Model making, metal finishing and woodworking are all done in Kevin’s studio on the small farm where he lives with his wife, Marla.

As a member of the board of the North Coast Land Conservancy, Kevin not only donates his time and passion to the environment, he also donates a portion of his sales to this non-profit organization.

Above video: Kevin Brownlee, Pat Costello and I built this homemade foundry for our personal use. Kevin's father (the sculptor E. M. "Mick" Brownlee) and I shared a foundry in Honolulu in the late 1960s and 1970s. The furnace is newly built, but the lift tongs, ring shank and many other tools are the same ones we used in Hawai'i back in the day.