Andy McConnell was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. While most of his working life has been spent in some facet of the construction trades, he augmented his budget in college working in both the front and back of restaurants. There, his interest in what different people have in common grew. Ever curious about their inner workings and how they relate with one another he went on to earn a master’s degree in Applied Behavioral Science at Bastyr University.

My art has evolved from the dust, muck and din of construction sites.

Scribing trim became carving forms; gluing up counter slabs led to making large, stable carving blanks; finishing blackened steel developed into staining split or carved cedar.

I scrounge for my materials.Much of the wood I work with has been salvaged fromjob-site dumpsters, or friend might call when they have a tree taken down. People give me boards they’ve been holding onto for years or I stop the car when I see a “FREE” pile on the side of the road.

Occasionally, I manage to find more precious materials, like cedar burls: what gold is to aluminum, in my mind. Despite their calm compositions, making these pieces requires a lot lifting, pounding, noise and dust.

Throughout his life, his love for art and the Pacific Northwest have remained consistent and at its core his work and material provenance are connected to this place. His pieces are most often abstract: non-representational metaphors of the inner human landscape exploring themes of identity, accident, balance, and difference.

Craft is key to his work, a habit stemming from years spent working as a carpenter.