Sculptor Matt Bird works with stone through direct cutting, shaping each piece by hand from found granite into interlocking forms defined by proportion and balance. Trained as a stonemason under Brooks Burleson, he brings this foundation to a sculptural practice that keeps the process visible, from chisel marks to raw edges that remain intact.
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His recent report Found timepresented ZAROLATgathered thirteen works presented for the first time, including freestanding and wall-mounted pieces carved in stone and built in clay. The works reflect his approach to material and process, where texture, surface and form capture the act of carving. The stone functions as both structure and subject, with each piece retaining elements of its construction as well as the raw state of the material itself.
Time remains central to Byrd’s work. Through carving, he deals with stone as a material that holds history, while his intervention introduces a new layer that remains visible within the form. His work has been featured in publications including Vision Invisible, Surface, Dwell, A.D. Germany, A.D. India, Dezeenand Luxe. He has also completed studies at the Centro Internazionale di Scultura in Peccia, Switzerland and the Shiro Oni Studio in Onishi, Japan.
During Found time at ZAROLAT, DSCENE Editor Ana Markovic sat down with Matt Byrd to discuss his path from masonry to sculpture, his approach to sculpture, and his recent work developed during his time in Japan.
How did art first enter your life and when did you realize you wanted to pursue it seriously?
Art entered my life from a very young age. My parents were very supportive of the arts. He actually fell in and out of my life for a long time. There were long periods when I resented it or even did things in secret. When I started working as a stonemason at the age of 19, I knew I would do something in stonemasonry for the rest of my life. For a while I did masonry and stone carving on the side but in 2021 I had to pick one and I chose diving head first into sculpture. I even told my last client that it would be my last job as a stonemason.
Carving can be a nightmare. You have to go through the ringer with it. You must be hurting. You have to push through.
You trained as a stonemason before devoting yourself fully to sculpture. At what point did technical skill begin to shift into artistic expression, and how much of the mason still remains in the sculptor?
Luckily I worked for an amazing stonemason named Brooks Burleson. He is a great artist and craftsman himself, and has always had a bundle of taste in his work. Sometimes my problem as a stonemason has been that I focus on parts of the job for too long. I would obsess over how the stones fit together and set them together. I decided one day to let myself become more obsessed and just started carving. All the mason is still in me. It always will be.
Your tools are intentionally kept simple. How does working this way shape your rhythm, your decisions and your relationship with the stone?
With the right tools you can do anything very easily. I don’t really want the right tools.
I have the right tools, but I think if I had access to all the fancy stuff my work would suffer. Carving can be a nightmare. You have to go through the ringer with it. You must be hurting. You have to push through.
You often work with stone that has been salvaged and found from unexpected places. How does the act of finding the material shape the direction of a sculpture?
When dealing with salvaged stone. Sometimes you gotta take what you can get. It won’t always be the exact color and size I want, so you have to adapt your idea to the piece available. Many times it works in your favor. If the stone was perfect from the jump, it wouldn’t be so much fun! I’d have six thousand sculptures by now if that was the case.
The human touch will never be outdated. All those robot arms carving stone now will never replace the human touch.
In Found timeyou describe time almost as a physical presence within the stone. When you carve, do you feel like you’re revealing something or interrupting it? How do you balance the existing history of the stone with your own intervention?
It depends. If it’s a stone that I have as an old cornerstone or maybe some retainer – a lot of times they’ll already have a lot of chisel work in hand. In this case, I want to respect the hard work he has done in the past and not waste it. The stone becomes unrecognizable from how I found it, but I take extra care to make sure that the work done before me is respected and appreciated. When it comes to things with a more natural edge, like boulders, I like to let a little bit of nature’s work show through.
Traces of your carving process are intentionally left visible. What do you hope a viewer understands when they encounter these signs?
That the human touch will never be out of date. All those robot arms carving stone now will never replace the human touch. This stuff is so stupid. It has no soul and you can’t convince me otherwise. It goes back to what I was saying before. It helps to be difficult. We need human error, even if no one can see the error.
I love making sculptures and if you can sit on it or light it, that’s awesome.
The ceramic works in the exhibition mark a departure from your usual practice in stone. What has this transition revealed for you as a maker and what has the clay allowed you to explore with this stone?
It was truly a “when in Rome” situation. My mom had me in some pottery classes as a kid and my partner is also into ceramics so I was always around. I was in Japan for a residency last year at Shiro Oni, and I was standing there carving for a day. I just thought, “what am i doing I could only do it at home.Then I went to the pottery studio there and immersed myself in what they had to offer. It was really fun. I allow myself to be a little more relaxed with ceramics. It was nice to be able to work without ear, eye and lung protection. I’m just sitting there in my bare feet.
It works like Sardine enter a more literal reference, which is rarely intended. What prompted this shift and how does your approach to visualization differ from abstraction?
Actually it doesn’t change at all. Even Sardine it’s big enough to say it looks like a can of sardines. As long as it looks cohesive with my work in the big picture, then I’m fine with it.
I like to let some of nature’s work show through.
Some projects, such as Head stoolthey exist between sculpture and functional object. What draws you to this tension between use and observation? Do you see utility as a way to bring sculpture into everyday life?
I’m not attracted to tension at all. I have carved many pieces of furniture and lighting, but most of which cannot be found online. I love making sculptures and if you can sit on it or light it, that’s awesome.
Several works in the exhibition arise from a single boulder and reflect a more pared-down approach. What led you to this level of simplification and what did this reduction require of you?
I really got tired of making the super complicated puzzle-like pieces. I don’t feel like it represents where I’m at with carving. I’ll come back to that at some point though. It was a fun adventure making one piece sculptures. It was almost easier for me to feel satisfied with them.
Sometimes you gotta take what you can get. It’s not always the exact color or size, so you have to adapt your idea to the available piece
How has your relationship with time evolved through working with stone, a material that exists on a scale far beyond human life?
Honestly, I make the work last long after I’m gone. This is why I am extremely specific about what work goes out and what is shown and where. I’m just at the beginning of its life as a sculpture.
If you could place one of your sculptures anywhere permanently, without limitation, where would it live?
I have to say the Noguchi Museum!
Found time presented at ZAROLATan architectural studio and design collection gallery based at 140 Plymouth Street in the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn. The space brings together artists, designers and creators working in various disciplines, with an emphasis on the material, the process and the act of making. Through its exhibition program, ZAROLAT presents works directly related to construction, surface and form, maintaining a close connection between studio practice and the gallery context.
For more of Matt Byrd’s work, visit mattbyrdsculpture.com and follow @byrd.stone
