Made In Greensboro
BRITTANY SØNDBERG, 34, SCULPTOR, ARTIST & METALSMITH
When artist Brittany Søndberg moved to Greensboro in 2008, she was already accomplished in jewelry design and metalsmithing.
For three years, Brittany rented out a studio at Lyndon Street Artworks. There she met different sculptors and she decided to pursue sculpting on a larger scale. She decided to pursue sculpting seriously and entered graduate school at UNC Greensboro, graduating in 2015.
“I enjoy working with my hands. I love the idea of being able to create a unique visual and spatial experience (for the viewer).”
Initially Brittany combined her skills at jewelry design and her new passion for sculpting into monumental jewelry forms. She created a one hundred foot locket necklace which was installed in a variety of arts-centered locations, she also made a thirty foot concrete pearl necklace which was placed around town at sites where trees had been taken down excessively.
“I am fortunate to be able to (and be required to) use my imagination in my work. That’s one of the best things about being a visual artist.”
Some of her latest works include Dream Machine, dedicated by synerG, that is installed out front of the Greensboro Cultural Arts Building. Little Wing II is a fabricated steel, powder coated sculpture that is on display at the Piedmont Triad International Airportthrough October 2017. She has also shown her work at UNCG’s Weatherspoon Art Museum and is currently showing work at the Center for Visual Artists.
“I work intuitively. I am inventing the form as I go along. Responding to the material and the developing sculpture in front of me. Additionally, the work is very labor intensive, but after a piece is completed and I am happy with it, it’s like I forget how hard it was to do and am ready to do it all over again. The opportunity to make art is uniquely human. To be able to do this as my life’s work is amazing and I am very fortunate to do so.”
She has also shown her work in Pittsburgh Brooklyn, Wilmington and she will be displaying work this year in downtown Raleigh through the Art in the Workplace program organized by the Contemporary Art Museum in Raleigh. She has jewelry for sale at GreenHill Center for NC Art in the Greensboro Cultural Arts Center.
Brittany is also an Assistant Professor of Art teaching Ceramics, Sculpture, Contemporary Practices and Art History at Greensboro College and has previously taught at NC A&T and UNCG.
“I love teaching, and the opportunity to guide emerging student artists and help them to develop their personal artistic language, it is a truly rewarding experience.”