-
Shattered Sphere
-
Solid Sphere
-
Alder Disk
-
Sentinels
Brent Comber, is a British Columbia based sculptural artist, who works only in wood, and specifically with tree species from the Pacific Coast region. Having worked with wood for many years in his design studio, he has advanced his thoughts and perspective to a more poetic and symbolic level through his artwork. Comber’s ability to take varying qualities of differing species of wood, found in lumber industry rejects and old growth fallen giants, and reveal its inner integrity has allowed for his reinterpretation of the natural world to be appreciated as a language in it’s own right. With a vocabulary that can be seen, smelled and touched, Comber employs this ancient material to reflect the stories that surround him.
The sphere represents volume and three-dimensional space. It is also symbolic of the Earth, the atmosphere and the planets. One of the artist’s earliest memories is as a young boy chopping wood with his grandfather: the sound of the splitting wood, the weight of the axe, and the effort it took to break the wood apart. Years later, Comber was given wood from old growth trees that had fallen during a fateful storm in Vancouver’s renowned Stanley Park. Combined with the human desire to “fix” what had been destroyed, the artist re-assembled the split wood into a dynamic Shattered Sphere, symbolizing the transformation of a community’s sadness into a reverent artwork.
Brent Comber’s CV
Residence: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Selected Exhibitions
2012 Bellevue Arts Museum exhibition curated by Stefano Catalani, Artistic Director, Bellevue, WA, USA
2012 Indigo, Jennifer Kostuik Gallery Group Exhibition, Vancouver, BC
2011 Duthie Gallery, Salt Spring Island, BC
2010 Salt Spring Sumer Lights, Salt Spring Island, BC
2009 100% Design Tokyo, October/November, Tokyo Japan
2009 Salt Spring Inside Outside, Salt Spring Island, BC
2009 Making the Known Unknown, Design for Life, Vancouver, BC
2008 Beaver Tales, University of Toronto, ON
Fairs
2012 CONTEXT of Art Miami, Miami FL USA (Jennifer Kostuik Gallery)
2012 Art Toronto Fair, Toronto ON Canada (Jennifer Kostuik Gallery)
2012 ArtMrkt San Francisco Art Fair, San Francisco CA USA (Jennifer Kostuik Gallery)
2012 Interior Design Show, Toronto, ON Canada (Jennifer Kostuik Gallery and Brent Comber Studio)
2011 Art Miami, Miami FL USA (Jennifer Kostuik Gallery)
2011 TIAF Toronto International Art Fair, Toronto ON Canada (Jennifer Kostuik Gallery)
2011 Tokyo Designers Week, Tokyo, Japan
Awards
2011 Carter Wosk 7th Annual BC Achievement Award for Creative Achievement
Corporate Collections
Encana, Calgary, AB
Hilton Hotel, Toronto ON
Target Corporation Canada, Mississauga ON
Simon Fraser University (Community Trust), Burnaby BC
Westbank Projects Corp. (Telus Garden), Vancouver BC
HSBC, Bank of Canada, Vancouver BC
Rosewood Hotel Georgia, Vancouver, BC
Encana Corporation, Calgary, AB
Principal Designer 2005-2011 Selected Projects and Commissions
Dos Caminos Restaurant, New York, NY
Obakki, Vancouver, BC
Fort Baker, Sausalito, CA
Four Seasons Resort, Bora Bora
Charlie Street Sales Centre, Toronto, ON
Chamber Hotel, Minneapolis, MN
Squamish Lil’wat Cultual Centre, Whistler, BC
Hyatt, San Antonio, TX
Yahoo!, Zurich, Switzerland
Woodwards, Vancouver, BC
West Vancouver Recreational Centre, West Vancouver, BC
701 West Georgia, Vancouver, BC
Grand Hotel, New York, NY
Anderson Walk, North Vancouver, BC
Pixar Canada, Vancouver BC
James Hotel, New York, NY
Baumkuchen Cafe, Tokyo, Japan
W Hotel, Sentosa Cove, Singapore
W Hotel, Times Square, New York, NY
Professional Memberships
Wood First Advisory Committee, British Columbia Forestry Innovation Investment