Alumnus sculpts success

A UNM alumnus dreams of the day the plastic organs and skeletons in classrooms come to life.

Stephen Webb only minored in art studio, but said he’s shown his fantasy bronze figures in exhibitions almost since he started taking small metal casting and construction classes at UNM. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology, but has profited from selling his art and driving a commercial truck.

But he said he’ll still put his degree in biology to use doing something that combines art with science.

“I’m interested in doing that but changing it up a bit,” he said. “What if I made a living sculpture? There’s that possibility, kind of a Frankenstein-esque modern day artist. I kind of have to make that career at this point in time, it doesn’t really exist. I kind of have to forge the pathway.”

Webb continued to show his work in exhibits after graduation, his most recent being “Show of Heads” at the Limner Gallery in New York City. His next show, “Sinister Dexterity” opens Friday on June 1 in the Stranger Factory Gallery at Carlisle Boulevard and Central Avenue.

He said he wants to unite art and science to cure the boredom others like him experience in grade school.

“What if you have a living circulatory system in a class that you could look at, you could see moving lungs and a beating heart? I think it would stimulate a lot more interest in learning how things actually work,” he said.

Constance DeJong, one of Webb’s professors in small metal casting and construction, said many universities are moving in the direction of interdisciplinary work as jobs call for multiple skill sets.

“I think it’s incestuous to be taught only by artists how to make art,” she said. “I’m all for combining disciplines. It enlivens the practice.”

DeJong said although she’s had non-art-majors in her classes, Webb is exceptional in his level of engagement and discipline. She said midway through his first small metal casting and construction class, he produced enough work to show in exhibits. However, Webb doesn’t really consider himself an artist, she said.

“I would say he is immersed in this, he’s consumed by it,” she said. “I think with artists, it’s good to be consumed by their art. I don’t think he would call himself an artist. He even looked at me once and said, ‘I hate art,’ and I said, ‘me too,’ and we just laughed like crazy. Although I think the art world will treat him well, I think he’s outside the art world.”