Brett Sutherland
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Bone carving, wood carving
I started teaching myself bone carving at the age of 16yrs (1983) and had it as a hobby for years while I went through university to study zoology. A brief lapse of carving ensued while I traveled extensively and after picking up some giraffe and Eland bone while working in Kenya as a gorilla safari tour guide, I started up again in 1993. I continued carving as a hobby for the next few years while I sailed from Africa to Brazil and to the Caribbean (St Maarten) and worked in the boating industry. After building myself a catamaran back in Brazil in 1995 I found myself back working on boats in the Caribbean but sick of catering to cruise line tourists. So living on my own boat I started carving full time in 1997 to see if I could survive that way - which actually worked and I quickly became the 'Bone carver of the Caribbean' selling my carvings mainly in the marina bars to international sailors. In 2003 back in NZ, I began making garden sculptures from hebel block and after 2 years doing this I started working in the film industry sculpting sets and making costumes. Returning to the Caribbean in 2007, I learned tattooing in 2008 while in Toronto and I opened a tattoo studio back in St Maarten where I kept occupied for the next 3 1/2 years. I returned home to NZ in 2013 and built a tiny house, moved it to Bethells Beach and joined the film industry again. |
2020 rolls on and ditching my job sculpting on Lord of the Rings due to covid, I found myself living in my cabin on my own little piece of land near Mangawhai and carving a 3.3m totem pole of native birds of our coast. I also had a collection of totem pole Marquette for possible large scale conversion. Totem poles became a passion since spending time with native carvers in Washington state and B.C. back in 1999-2000. So now my focus is on the totem poles and representing our native wildlife.
Nature is mainly what I represent in my artwork be it in 2d design or bone or wood carving or cast resin reproductions I make from molds of some of my works. I have never had an exhibition and have never before had enough material to exhibit due to selling every art piece I've made to survive.
Nature is mainly what I represent in my artwork be it in 2d design or bone or wood carving or cast resin reproductions I make from molds of some of my works. I have never had an exhibition and have never before had enough material to exhibit due to selling every art piece I've made to survive.
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