HOT TALKS: Val & Arnt Arntzen
February 27, 2014
The Three C’s: Collecting, Collaborating, and Creating
Valerie and Arnt Arntzen are a couple who have been together for 35 years and have worked in the creative field since the early 80s. They are both mad collectors of found objects: from helicopter wings to bedsprings. They love to re-use and appreciate the uniqueness of the objects as they already come with a story. Collaborating is an essential part of their relationship as husband and wife as well as artists. They have created a couple of pieces together. Their creativity is inspired by their surroundings, relationships with other artists, their art collection and studios.
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Arnt was born in 1958 and raised in North Vancouver, BC. Interest in metal began when building a 36 foot steel schooner in the backyard with his father. His first sculptures were created from the scrap pieces. Woodcraft and design developed through renovating vintage houses. The years from 1984 to 1987 were spent in Los Angeles turning his attention to furniture design. His major influences come from architecture, mid century modern furniture design, Frank Lloyd Wright, Frank Gehery, David Smith, Isamu Noguchi, Charles and Ray Eames, Gustav Stickley, Le Corbusier, George Nelson, C.R. Mackintosh and Phillipe Starck. His work has been in shows in California, New York and various galleries across Canada.
Valerie is an assemblage artist living and working in Vancouver and has been an artist for over 20 years. As she travels in different countries, she finds she needs to create art to continue her experience and memories of those places. Her assemblage pieces consist of found objects combined with her photographs and treasures collected during her travels. Once in the studio, she takes from my myriad of labeled boxes an object and combine it with other objects, text, photographs and usually constructed in a found box or frame to tell the story.
