Dylan Conner (b. 1989)Dylan DeBock Conner, born in Houston, TX in 1989, received his BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art, studied art history at the University of Houston Downtown, and is currently working towards his MFA at the University of Houston. Houston artists, Tim Glover and Ed Wilson, have been key in helping Conner hone his craft over the past decade. Conner builds sculpture primarily using mild steel, stainless steel, plaster, and concrete. A variety of other materials can be found in his work as well. He has been instrumental in the creation of a number of large-scale public works including Ed Wilson’s Soaring In The Clouds at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, TX. Conner recently completed his first major public commission entitled Firefly Field which is permanently installed as the gateway to Houston’s second oldest park, Woodland Park, in the Woodland Heights. Conner currently works in Houston among a tightly knit community of artists in a locally cherished studio space called El Rincón Social.Artist StatementI create my sculptures with steel, plaster, and concrete, historically rich materials that carry inherent conceptual weight. I find new aesthetic value in the properties of these materials by pushing them to their limits. Force, pressure, bulging, compression, constraint, and vulnerability are recurring themes. In some pieces, I also incorporate found materials such as a cast iron lamp-post, a heavy wooden beam, delicate wallpaper, or a steel marine buoy. Site is always an important consideration in my work, but when I use found objects, rather than responding to the site they typically inhabit, the sculptures become self-reflective in nature and assume an introspective quality. Trial and error are fundamental to my process as I experiment with casting and fabricate intricate steel frameworks. Some of my works are successful because so many have failed. Investigating the entire process, from conception through execution to failure or success, is the driving force of my practice.Education2019 Master of Fine Arts, University of Houston, Houston, TX 2011 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD 2007 High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Houston, TX Work Experience 2019 - Current Owner/Sculptor, Dylan Conner Sculpture and Fabrication, Houston, TX Consultant, Metal Sculpture, High School Performing and Visual Arts, Houston, TX 2018 - 2019 Teaching Fellow, Sculpture, University of Houston, Houston, TX 2017 Instructional Assistant, Sculpture, University of Houston, Houston, TX 2015 - 2016 Lead Fabricator, Ed Wilson Sculpture Studio, Houston, TX Consultant, Drawing, High School Performing and Visual Arts, Houston, TX 2013 - 2015 Artist assistant and fabricator, Ed Wilson Sculpture Studio, Houston, TX Mold-Making Workshop Leader, Art League Houston, Houston, TX 2011 - 2012 Artist assistant/fabricator for sculptor Tim Glover, Houston, TX Avis Frank Gallery Exhibitor, Texas Fine Arts Fair, Houston, TX Installer for sculptor Ledelle Moe, 2012 Dallas Biennial, Dallas, TX 2008 Teachers Assistant, Sculpture, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD Solo Exhibitions 2015 Where Two Become One, Avis Frank Gallery, Houston, TX2014 Breaking the Mold, Capitol Street Gallery, Houston, TX Selected Group Exhibitions 2019 Pitch and Roll, 1940’s Air Terminal Museum, Houston, TX 41st Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition, Blaffer Art Museum, Houston, TX 2018 Other Edens, Galveston Arts Center, Galveston, TX 2017 Shaped by Subtraction, Box 13, Houston, TX Perspectives, Gensler, Houston, TX 2016 Fotos y Artefactos, Flight Gallery, San Antonio, TX 2015 Collective Solid, Deborah Colton Gallery, Houston, TX Painting and Sculpture, Rudolph Blume Fine Art/Art Scan Gallery, Houston, TXSpreading the Love, City Hall, Houston, TX 43, G Gallery, Houston, TX 2014 A Panoramic View, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX 2013 Salon Style, Alonzo Gallery, Houston, TX States of Matter (two man show), Avis Frank Gallery, Houston, TX Bringing it All Back Home, Art League Houston, Houston, TX2012 Hello Everything, El Rincon Social, Houston, TX God, Art Car Museum, Houston, TX Menagerie, Winter Street Gallery, Houston, TX 2011 BFA Thesis Exhibition, Maryland Institute College, Baltimore, MD 2010 Expanded, Area 405 Gallery, Baltimore, MD Cast Elements, Main Zero Gallery, Baltimore, MD2008 Selected Works, Jung Center, Houston, TX 2007 NFAA Exhibition, Margulies Collection, Miami, FL Honors and Awards 2019 2019 Mayor’s Proud Partner Award University of Houston School of Art Graduate Travel Grant 2016 Cynthia Woods Mitchell Award Wich Foundation Scholarship 2007 Fanny Blaunstein Thalheimer Scholarship Mark di Suvero Award and Scholarship National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (NFAA) winner Scholastics Gold Key Visual Arts Portfolio Presidential Scholar in the Arts Nominee *ARTIST INTERVIEW