Art Walk Awards: Whittle Guy

Tradition as Adaptive Strategy, 2010, carved wood, each 6 x 1.75 x 1.75 inches; installation approximately 6 x 70 x 12 inches. (left) Courtesy of Matt Browning; (right) photograph by Ronnelle Browning

Matt Browning’s series of whittled wood structures that won him the thousand-dollar prize at the final Art Walk Awards of 2010, held December 2 at Sole Repair, were a year in the making. “I thought a lot about the value of time during this project,” the artist, currently Seattle University’s Visual Artist in Residence, told City Arts. “Time as it relates to making money, time as it relates to socializing, time as it relates to aging. I feel like whittling addresses each of these three relationships in interesting ways.” It would appear that the time Browning spent on the pieces, collectively titled Tradition as Adaptive Strategy, was very valuable indeed. So, Matt, where will all that valuable money go?

"Straight towards a new computer, a need I've been neglecting for too many years now."