Congratulations to our

1st Place Award of Excellence Winner 

Bryon Draper

About Bryon:

Bryon earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Magna Cum Laude) degree from Brigham Young University-Hawaii, Laie, Hawaii.  Since 2005 he has been an Associate Professor (Sculpture) at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.

Bryon has participated in over 160 juried and invitational museum, gallery, art center and art association exhibitions in Utah and many other U.S. States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia.  He received commendations for his work in 64 exhibitions, including many Best of Show, Special Recognition and Curator’s Choice awards.

Bryon answered our question how he became interested in art and whether he is working mostly on sculptures as follows:

I became interested in art when I was in my twenties while attending school at the Brigham Young University in Laie, Hawaii.  While there, I became very interested in sculpture, especially figure sculpture, at which I now work almost exclusively.

The beginning of my first semester there I was scrambling to register late for classes with little success.  Being an international student, from Canada, meant I was required to be a full time student to stay in the country.  I needed three more credits to do that.  I happened into an acquaintance who told me that there was an opening in a sculpture class he was taking.  I thought to myself, how hard could it be?  I signed up, fell in love with figure sculpture and have been working with the figure ever since.

Bryon’s Statement regarding Seeking Protection:
I created this sculpture by carefully fitting selected cast bronze fragments of the figure to a block of stone. I try not to impose any particular meaning on the viewer, but rather try to develop suggestions of possible meaning. People bring to the piece their own experiences and understanding of life and this permits them to interpret the work with their own connections and conclusions. In this work I have used the Egyptian symbol of the Shen which means to encircle, and signified the concepts of completeness, infinity, and divine protection. I often reference ancient ideas using symbols and poses, such as this, to invoke possible contemporary mean and ideas for the viewer to consider. 

Bryon’s website:  https://bryondraper.com