About

Brad isdrab has been exhibiting his sculpture since 2001 in various galleries from San Francisco to San Diego, New York and Pennsylvania. He creates hand-cast and painted editions of many of his works as well as producing short films and books. He studied sculpture at the Academy later turning his love of form into articulated puppets which could be brought to life through stop motion animation. His graduate work, Boris and Bianca, focused on interactivity and storytelling. Since 2006 he has been working as a designer, producing motion graphics animation, and working in the visual effects and feature film industry.

Brad’s desires to create a world that captures the experience of being in another place. “When I close my eyes I find myself in other places, worlds. I want to express these worlds in whatever means I can.” Currently this manifests by taking ordinary objects, removing them from their context, replicating them, building upon them, and altering them to create something new. “When I take away its context, I find within it a new being.” The desire to see these things living and moving has led to animations and films with these new beings. “The characters I create are archetypes and pawns in a greater mythology in a story only I know. These are the things that I want to see in the world, these things that I see in my dreams. I want to revisit them.”

Artist’s Statement

I create articulated sculptures and make stopmotion animation with them. Forming surrealistically detailed sculptures using discarded and found objects. Everything is broken down to parts removed from their original context to become pieces of seemingly ancient robots and monsters. Many of my images come originally from dreams. These characters are my children, who represent other worlds and places.

I am currently working on the first episode for a series of short films, entitled ‘Drab Future’, a set of toys and books, and interactive web content.

My art allows me to see the things from my dreams. Create places I’d rather live in. It allows my to be a god of my little world. I want to create and populate worlds. I do this in every way I can think of, I want it to be real, the whole experience.

Academy of Art, 2002 BFA sculpture
Academy of Art, 2006 MFA new media