Darren Byers’ sculptures are located in the United States, Canada and Europe.

DARREN BYERS
Sculptor / Dreamer

You can contact Darren at - 506- 432-6256  or email woodrelic@gmail.com

You can also visit the studio by chance or appointment.

73 Fitzgerald Rd. Wards Creek New Brunswick Canada E4E-4M6

I have worked as a furniture maker for over twenty-five years and as a sculptor/woodcarver for the last fifteen years.  Inspiration comes from my surroundings, people and natural settings.  Watching, as life continually transforms with light, time, and emotion.  I am excited to be able to capture these feelings in time, explore the potential and relate that story to the viewer.  I feel constantly drawn to undertake “one of a kind” sculptures.  I enjoy discovering the unexpected in the expected, asking questions and exploring new things that challenge and excite me as an artist.

My sculpting journey started in 1994 with the carving of a life-scale crucifix for St. Francis Xavier Church in Sussex.  This depiction of Christ on the cross won the Duffy Crowel award for ecclesiastical art. Since then, I have created many pieces for Churches and private commissions.  In 2002, I began working together with John and Kathy Hooper, sculpting a large commission for a private school in Los Angles.  During the past eight years I have worked with Kathy Hooper on numerous projects. One of the largest of these being the John Peters Humphrey sculpture unveiled in Hampton in 2008.  We continue to collaborate on restorations and new work.  I also teach sculpting classes and have work displayed at Hooper Studios in Hampton New Brunswick. My work is also shown at the Buckland Gallery in Saint John.  The latest show I have been involved with is “Beyond Words”, a group exhibition featuring nineteen New Brunswick artists.  The show opened in the summer of 2008 in Saint John, and has been to Fredericton and Moncton.  It has been a pleasure working together with this group of talented and knowledgeable people. We are at it again, this time it is called Whisper/Stimulare project and will be opening this fall (2011) Stayed tuned for the dates.

I have been collaborating with artist, Fred Harrison on our latest project a sculpture to honour all who have been killed or injured at work in the greater Saint John region. This piece is  cast in bronze and has been installed  near the Lilly Lake pavilion. The official unveiling was held on April 28^th, 2011 on the Worker’s International day of mourning.

Having just finished a major restoration of John Hooper’s sculpture Balancing this spring and now that it is back in Ottawa,  it is time for a few private pieces and a few for the gallery’s. This restoration process took over a year to complete working along with Kathy Hooper, we had our work cut out for us. We have just finished up another restoration of the clock tower and figures Time Piece that are found outside Market Square in Saint John. We are installing them in the spring, this is the first time the whole piece has been removed  Thanks to Jack Massy for his brilliant notes and photos it sure made a difficult task that much easier. I have teamed up with Fred Harrison again to create a likeness of Northrop Frye. A bronze sculpture that will be placed outside the Moncton Public Library this summer. The sculpture that is now at the Green Foundry will be installed in July commemorating Northrop Frye’s 100th birthday.

I continue to work on private and public commissions, enjoying the freedom this life offers me to enjoy time with family and friends, to help within my community, contemplate life and react to what I feel passionate about.

I would love to hear from you

Northrop Frye Clay

Fred Harrison & Darren Byers are at it again, this time creating a likeness of Northrop Frye to be cast in bronze. (Northrop Frye (1912-1991) was a Canadian literary critic and theorist, considered one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century. He spent his formative years here in Moncton, where he developed the ideas that he would go on to explore the rest of his life and where he established his deep commitment to an informed and civil society. The little larger than life size bronze sculpture will sit outside of the Moncton public library. The Frye sculpture will be on an aluminum bench sitting with a book in his lap and thinking of those formative years while he grew up in Moncton New Brunswick. The sculpture was awarded by the Frye Festival after an open competition for submissions. The direction of the committee was to have Northrop Frye sitting on a bench with a book. This is where we were able to get creative adding images that related to his early life and a few of the significant events that were a lasting part of his life. The clay figure is currently at the Green foundry in Elliot Maine and will be unveiled in July commemorating his 100^th Birthday.

the women and men who have been injured or died while at work in and around the city of Saint John. This sculpture will be located beside the W. Franklin Hatheway Labour Exhibit Center, which is an amazing environment for this piece. Having the essentials of the natural surroundings, along with a sense of reflection we feel when near water, this space will create an environment of contemplation as well as a place to reflect and heal.

As you approach the sculpture from the road, walking towards the lake, you will see, crouching under the low end of the I-beam, the shadowy figure of a woman, which is the pivoting point of the sculpture giving it grounding and support. She joins with a second ghostly figure bent with the strain of raising the beam. These two figures represent workers who have been lost in the past. The third figure is stretching to add her support to the cause. She is a figure in transition, stepping with confidence through memory into the present. By placing her on the crate in a precarious position, our intention is to make the viewer more aware of the importance of safe work practices. The fourth figure brings us sharply into focus. This figure is pushing boundaries, achieving things beyond his reach, supporting and adding his energy to the group.

Our larger than life sculpture shows people working together in order to lift a beam into place. There is excitement and a sense of pride that is felt by a task accomplished together. There is tension, an unspoken tension that comes from doing your best to support your accepted part of the task, while not wanting to let others down. Realizing your personal boundaries you work together to accomplish the job at hand. Although facing the possibility of injury, they look beyond themselves, spurred by the vision of a city worthy of its inhabitants. Throughout history, we have pressed boundaries to achieve and expand our environments both physically and mentally.

The raised beam, uplifted by the workers, is the arm of the sundial. The sundial marks the passage of time, which lessens the impact of tragedy and injury and allows for acceptance. The morning and afternoon hours are marked on the brick plaza with different coloured bricks. The two vertical faces of the beam feature the motto of the memorial in both official languages intertwined with images of people who have been injured or lost at work. There are many kinds of injuries incurred in the work place; some of them are physical and some are emotional. The images carved in the beam reflect the ALL. The end of the beam and the pointer of the sundial is a stylized canary inspired by the memorial logo. Within the caged breast of the bird, a light is located. At night, this light would serve as a beacon and cast interesting patterns on the surrounding area. The sundial is oriented to be accurate at noon on April 28, the day chosen to honour people who have been injured or killed at work, “Day of Mourning.”

At the point where the beam is anchored to the ground, a stylized rippled brick patio spreads in concentric circles, echoing a disturbance on the lake surface, which also reminds us that the greatest effect is at the point of impact. This loss or injury is felt most immediately by the person and family. As the ripple moves outward, the effect lessens until it becomes calm. This feature echoes and suggests the healing that happens with the passage of time.

The ensemble becomes a worthy symbol of our heritage; a community effort of labour and sacrifice built on the achievement of those who have gone before us. We look forward to working with the committee and industry professionals as we all direct our energies to bring this monument to completion.

This sculpture shown here  in its clay state is a combined effort between artist, Darren Byers & Fred Harrison.  The sculpture cast in bronze at Kalispell Art Casting was  unveiled on April 28th 2011 in Saint John New Brunswick at the Lilly Lake pavilion, to a crowd of over 400 people. It was an emotional day as many families and friends laid wreathes to remember those who have been killed while at work. Below are a few photos taken that day. One is with the committee that worked tirelessly to see this through and they were an amazing group of people to work with.

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]]> http://byersstudios.com/354/feed 0 http://byersstudios.com/credo http://byersstudios.com/credo#comments Fri, 24 Sep 2010 02:00:42 +0000 Darren Byers http://byersstudios.com/new_site/?p=329 John Peter Humphrey was a man committed to human rights and the condition of mankind. He rose to great heights in his life’s work but never lost the sense of himself as part of the society he lived in.

In the sculpture the older man contemplates the draught of his document quietly; beside him kneels the small figure of himself at the age of seven. At this time he lived in Hampton and all through his life remembered it fondly, even choosing to be buried here.
The semi circular ash benches that the carved figure sits on symbolize the United Nations. To invoke the essence of the Declaration as a lasting monument for all peoples, we chose two large sandstone monoliths. Upright and powerful they stand for strength and longevity. One is carved with some of the articles of the Declaration and the other is a fountain, its water symbolizing the movement of time and creating a sense of quiet and peace John Peters Humphrey believed that “there is a fundamental connection between human rights and peace. We will have peace on earth when everyone’s rights are respected.”

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This large sculpture was for the Pilgrim School in Los Angeles.

White Birch burl

Artists of all stripes tend to continue doing what they do best, keeping to the path that led to their success. How do they move themselves onto a new track? Often the nudge is provided by other artists–their company and their work. This exhibit demonstrates an innovative prod. The nineteen artists know each other well and have established a bond that enables them to follow each other with trust. Many of the artists participated in a similar project, Beyond Words, in 2008, so they were familiar with the concept and could be sure of its success.

The idea of the project came from the party game Whispers in which someone murmur s a sentence to the person next to him, who whispers it to his neighbour, around the circle until the last person announces what he has heard.  The original “sentence” in this case was the photograph by Freeman Patterson. Because so many artists wanted to participate, the group decided to divide into two streams, each stream ending with a writer.

The two closest to the original did indeed follow Patterson’s image faithfully in colours and shapes, but over the course of the streaming, extraneous ideas crept in. One artist thought that because it was a Patterson image, it must a landscape, which it wasn’t. Another got the idea that the original photograph had to do with going on a journey. How strange the creative mind works.

What the group couldn’t have predicted was the strong influence of John Murphy who was to participate in the exhibit and whose unexpected death profoundly affected them all. After Murphy’s daughter Alison received Sue Hooper’s art work, the original colours remained in her tapestry but not the shapes. She added a black figure, death.  Fred Harrison, in the second stream, made the stone ledge from a pair of overalls Murphy left behind. The last of this stream was the poem by his widow. The influence of Murphy was so strong, that the group decided to dedicate the exhibit to him. 

The artist statements provide an intriguing insight into the way each person was stimulated by the art work they were following. Their own regular creative process was interrupted, if ever so slightly, by the necessity to interpret the murmur they were hearing. Suzanne Hill had to borrow paint because the colours of the photograph were not in her usual palette. 

I’ve been following the project from the beginning and was present when the pieces were introduced at the Hooper Art Centre, first Patterson’s photograph, and then two by two the pieces stimulated by it as the whispers went round. The ambiance at the unveiling was joyous, the camaraderie heartfelt, the creative spirit palpable. I was almost convinced that I too could have made something splendid. 

By Nancy Bauer

Darren Byers’ Artist Statement for “View through the broken pain”
Words have never quite worked for me as a means of expression, instead it has been wood carving. The carving becomes a communication between me and the wood as I am seduced by the feeling that, maybe this time, I will be able to express the conversation clearly. These are the words not spoken; truly “Beyond Words”. So it is difficult to write about my ‘book’ which reflects my emotional journey through life; a journey which, like everyone else’s personal journey, changes direction with each choice I make.
The wood chosen for this piece is a combination of ash and butternut. The ash used for the outside cover is strong, pliable, rich in grain and emotion, and reflects our traditional past. The butternut I chose for the interior of the book shows both warmth and beauty, while evoking feelings of love. I found myself engaged in the grain and shape of the wood, expressing with every cut the emotions I felt. Please read the emotions from the wood, feel the words through touch, and listen to what it says as you explore the story for yourself. My journey is primarily a search, to discover a life of love.
I travel with many guides and teachers, some of whom are my closest friends. To them, I would like to say thanks for their guidance, patience, direction and love. To God, who is teaching me about unconditional love, thank you for the courage to share my journey with others.

A travelling exhibition of hand made “books” – Beyond Words, is the work of nineteen celebrated regional artists: Jim Boyd, Linda Brine, Darren Byers, Brigitte Clavette, George Fry, Toby Graser, Fred Harrison, Susan Vida Judah, Suzanne Hill, Kathy Hooper, Sue Hooper, Elma McKay, Andrea Meeson, Brian Meeson, Alison Murphy, John Murphy, Peter Powning, Karen Shackleton, Peter Thomas, which will travel to Fredericton, Moncton and Halifax over the next few months.

The exhibition Beyond words is a challenge to conventionality. Verbal language has powerful links to our conscious and subconscious selves, and as such may function as a means of manipulation and constraint, imposed on us by others, or springing from ourselves as a means of self-justification. Too often words inhibit the primal response, the genuine impulses we experience before we crush our feelings into constructed language. Thom Gunn refers to “the dark before of truth”. Love, instinctive kindness, deep fears are not created because we articulate them, but rather arise in a current of emotional honesty. All the works in this exhibit explore the concept of ‘book’ from that deep current which exists within us and which defies the constraints of ‘word’.

Our deepest and truest response is not linguistic, it is sentient, direct; it is, ultimately, wordless.

Pip Murphy

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