Brian Ferriby

Brian was born in Trenton, MI in 1966, and grew up in the Detroit area.  He graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1989 and a Master of Architecture degree in 1992.  He performed and toured with the regionally successful rock/pop bands “Red C” and “Spank” from 1993-1995. 

His passion for metal sculpture began in 1996 when he studied gas welding in the art department at Austin Community College.  In 1997, he joined “Dale Watson and His Lone Stars,” a traditional country band from Austin, Texas.  He recorded and toured throughout Europe and the United States for the next two years.

Returning to Michigan in 1998, he began a three -year apprenticeship at James Starr Metalsmithing in Pontiac, MI, after which he attended Cranbrook Academy of Art, in Bloomfield, MI, where he earned his MFA in metalsmithing.  He has done public art sculptures for the cities of Northville, MI, and Cheboygan, MI, as well as for the University of Indianapolis.  He is an adjunct faculty member at Oakland Community College in Auburn Hills, MI, and the Art Institute of Michigan in Novi.

Artist Statement:

“I sculpt because it is a perfect combination of my passions.  Sculpture embraces space and form like architecture, movement and rhythm like music, and beauty and simplicity like nature.  I prefer to work from intuition.  I rely upon similarity of form to unite a composition.  I do not know what the outcome of each piece will be until it is completed.  Learning from the current work provides the inspiration for the next.  I build my sculptures from materials native to Michigan.  I use steel and copper, both originally mined in the Upper Peninsula and transported by ship to the mills of the Midwest.  I also use techniques that are elemental to the region, from those used by the earliest blacksmiths to those of the ironworkers who built factories, skyscrapers, and bridges.  I believe my sculpture is a continuation of these innovations.  While I find much to admire and emulate in previous work by other craftsmen, I continue to search for artistic avenues of expression as of yet unexplored.”