Stephanie Brockway

Based in Portland, Oregon, Stephanie Brockway is a self-taught artist whose work focuses on wood carving, painting, and the assembly of found objects. Her creative process centers on the concept of transformation, where she breathes new life into salvaged materials like antique tools, 1940s children’s chairs, and weathered fishing floats. By combining these forgotten relics with hand-carved elements, she creates primitive, whimsical figures that balance a sense of nostalgia with a touch of urban grit.

Brockway’s sculptures often possess a folk-art quality characterized by expressive, naive faces and articulated limbs. She describes her carving process as a dialogue with the wood, allowing the natural grain and history of the material to dictate the personality of the character emerging from it. Her aesthetic is heavily influenced by a love for the weird and wonderful, resulting in a menagerie of oddball figures and puppets that feel like modern heirlooms.