About the MN Artist Daren Steneman

As an artist, I love working with wood. Each piece has its own grain pattern that makes it unique and each has its own individual story of how it came to be. This fascination with wood led me to graduate from the top wood finishing program in the nation and open my own wood finishing business, Da Vinci Restoration. This expertise in wood finishing and coloring techniques along with my artistic desire to capture human experiences informs my sculptures. My art looks at these experiences through the contrast and interplay between form, color, composition, opposing objects and how they relate to each other.

In life, we can’t predict how or when our experiences take shape. We usually react to them in the moment and then make sense of them afterward. I utilize this in my work. When I approach a new sculpture, I’m looking to find meaning by producing contrast form, color, composition, and opposing objects. People grow, change, and take shape through the process of living through their experiences and ultimately try to find order out of the chaos life we live. I derive creation through destruction. My sculptures reflect this. As I work, the sculpture takes shape through the creative process. Like life, my sculptures are a series of interpretations and decisions based on our experiences and desire for unity.