Sculptor Stefan Savides has never needed an alarm clock to wake up for work a day in his life. He has never worked for anybody else but himself. Well, except for maybe, the birds.
For as long as he can remember, Savides has always worked with birds and has been fascinated by them from a very young age. As he puts it, “It was ingrained in me from the beginning.” With his new show Sculpted by Natureat InSight Gallery, he aims to pay tribute to these beautiful, flying creatures with a revering elegance that only an expert like Savides can bring to life.
Mourning Hookup, bronze, 18¾ x 5 x 9 in.
Growing up in Vacaville, California, Savides remembers visiting his cousins in San Francisco and seeing the birds on display at the California Academy of Sciences in Golden State Park. At 12 years old, he realized that the birds didn’t just crawl into the exhibits and die. Someone had to do that for them. That is how he learned about taxidermy.
“So, I contacted my science teacher from junior high. I thought he would know somebody that could tell me how to do it. And he did,” the artist says, adding that he started learning taxidermy from a retired preacher. By 16 he was asked to teach taxidermy and by 18, after graduating from school, he started his own taxidermy business. For 50 years he was bringing birds back to life through taxidermy, becoming internationally renowned through participating and judging competitions around the world.
A Double Shot of Wild Turkey, bronze, 36 x 44 x 43 in.
Savides attests that what set him apart in the taxidermy world was his heightened artistic sense he says he received from his mother who was a talented floral arranger. “I totally thank my mother for my ability to create compositions,” he says. “I lived in a household that had a never-ending parade of floral designs. Every day I was looking at her compositions. She was a good teacher and got me started on that.”
Which is why transitioning into bronze sculpting seemed seamless, like it was the natural next step into his artistic journey. His background in taxidermy gives him the edge in knowledge and anatomy of birds, allowing him to encapsulate their ethos without the “distraction of every detail.” His experience and admiration for birds transcend his sculptures and gives the viewer an intriguing closer look.
Insect-Inside, bronze, 14½ x 8 x 6½ in.
For example, one of his pieces depicts two mourning doves canoodling on a hay hook, hence the title Mourning Hookup. These aptly, clever titles tend to be a theme amid Savides’ work, like with A Double Shot of Wild Turkey, a sculpture of two wild turkeys about to take flight.
Through his artwork, Savides invites the viewer into his beloved world of birds and shares with them his passion, helping them to make their own connections with his feathered friends.
Pins and Curls, bronze, 33 x 22½ x 33 in.
“I like to think that I am giving people a personal slice of life of a particular bird. We see birds all the time. Most of the time when they see us, they fly away, and you have no idea what’s going on with them,” he says. “You really don’t get to see them doing what they’re doing. I like to portray them in some kind of attitude. That little slice of their life that you normally wouldn’t get to see.” —
InSight Gallery 214 W. Main Street » Fredericksburg, TX 78624 » (830) 997-9920 » www.insightgallery.com
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