Liz O'Brien

Stephen Antonson

 

Stephen Antonson’s insatiable curiosity pushes him to explore the bounds of his chosen media, plaster and more recently bronze, into all manner of forms and functions. A combination of subtle humor, sophistication and ease of placement makes Stephen one of the most sought-after makers working today. Notable among his works are chandeliers and hanging lights, which, along with his other pieces, feature beautifully hand-finished surfaces and elegant scale. Finding homes in settings as diverse as urban penthouses, beach cottages and luxury boutiques, Stephen’s work always just makes sense and elevates a space without dominating it.

A born collaborator, Stephen’s most inspired designs are responses to a problem, some self-imposed and others demanded by challenging commissions. Knowledgeable about history, design and otherwise, Stephen riffs on the 20th-century icons of the plaster medium – one of the few classical decorative materials not ixnayed by the thrill of the new when modernism dominated. Stephen nods to his antecedents like Alberto Giacometti’s work for Jean-Michel Frank, while pushing forward with his own vision of how to balance refinement with making a statement in a contemporary interior.

Stephen Antonson was born in 1966 and grew up outside Detroit. He studied painting and sculpture at Carnegie Mellon University and Hunter College. He found his tribe while working at Martha Stewart Living and embraced the functional while letting his can-do spirit run wild creating handmade pieces for his own home and those of his friends. He hung out a shingle for his own studio in ­­­2008 and has never looked back… thank goodness!