Meet the Artist
Gavin Tougher
woodworking
Gavin Tougher obtained his BFA with a concentration in Sculpture and Dimensional Studies from the School of Art and Design at Alfred University, graduating with distinction in 2014 and receiving the prestigious Chancellor Award for Student Excellence. Subsequently, he spent time in Paris, France, as a fellow at the Cité Internationale des Arts, where he delved into an independent studio practice, liberated from the constraints of institutionalized academia.
Upon returning from Paris, Gavin was captivated by the fields of farming and construction, and he spent two years assimilating basic carpentry skills and living on a high-altitude Permaculture farm in Southwest Colorado, where he also obtained his Permaculture Design Certificate. During this period, he produced and marketed salvaged wood art at the local farmers market, and he served on a six-acre organic vegetable operation in Vermont and a similar enterprise on the Maine coast in the summer of 2018.
Through his extended engagement with agriculture and land management, which lasted three years, Gavin arrived at a newfound appreciation and comprehension of the natural world, prompting him to create art in the interest of environmentalism. Following his residency at the Byrdcliffe Artist Residency in Woodstock, New York, in 2018, Gavin relocated to Corvallis, Oregon, where he established a wood art studio named "Pith to Bark" dedicated to crafting objects that embody environmentalism, material reuse, and the illumination of the natural world. His current endeavors center on sculptural nesting boxes for Mason bees and at-risk avian species, melding activism, functionality, and aesthetics.
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