Bryon Hartley
Bryon Hartley
Bryon was born and raised in central Illinois. After taking a short 27-year break in his educational pursuits after High school, Bryon restarted his education journey at Lincoln Land Community College in 2009 where he received his Associate of Arts degree in Art in 2011. After graduation from LLCC, Bryon transferred to Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville to pursue a Bachelor of Fine Art. Along with his BFA in ceramics he also earned a Bachelor of Art in Art History when he graduated in 2013. After a Post Baccalaureate year at SIUE, Bryon was accepted as the Hixson-Lied Graduate Fellow for 2014 at the University of Nebraska. He is currently in his second year of his candidacy at the university pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree in Sculpture.
Bryon’s work is held in several collections including the permanent collections of Lincoln Land Community College, The Wellgates Collection, Boston, MA., Southwest Missouri Mental Health Association, Springfield, Mo. , St Joseph’s Home, Springfield, Il., and the Dr. R.A. Edwards Collection in Shamburg, Il.
“Madness is not to be despised and not to be feared but instead you should give it life.” Carl Jung
I am where rationality and madness meet, visually consuming the world and physically shaping my response. The result is devoid of its intellectual source. For intellectual involvement is manipulated by education, by society, by culture. I want the emotions of the viewer to be brought forth by an abstract source so that they can question what they seeing without being clouded by the specific madness that created it.
I open my work for you to recognize, to share something within it’s chaos. Much like I hunt myself in the work. Each aesthetic decision is an internal struggle for clarity. The process is like following a wake in the air, or tracking a trail through water.
The desire is to present to the viewer an emotionally filling piece with questions for the eye and space for the viewer to decide what they will find.
