Bio

Burton Isenstein is a Chicago area-based sculptor who worked for years hand carving clay surfaces imagining and revealing what might be found just below the surface of the surrounding human made environment. His most recent body of work is a further iteration of the carving process using 3d modeling to direct digital fabrication tools to carve deeply into slabs of hardwood to reveal imagined forms. Each piece begins as a solid plank, the machine operates as an extension of Isenstein’s hand in what is in effect a collaboration between his vision and the intricacies and capabilities of the software and milling interface.
Burton currently teaches in the School of The Art Institute of Chicago’s Contemporary Practice department as Assistant Professor Adjunct.