About
Drawn to the visual qualities of random found objects and drawing from a professional career in museum exhibition design, my work joins experimentation and happenstance with careful planning and design. I first began making mirrors out of old Monopoly and Parcheesi boards as gifts for family and friends. This quickly evolved into more unique, free-form wall reliefs and shadow boxes to eventually include free-standing sculptures and what I call “semi-functional furniture.” Most recently, I’ve dipped my toes in to making whimsical lighting fixtures.
A tinkerer by nature, I derive energy and inspiration from the iterative trial-and-error process of assemblage and from the joy of the hunt as I mine my collection of more than thirty years. I want viewers to be drawn in to study details, discover materials, and ponder possible motives and narratives.
“As element is set beside element, the many qualities and auras of isolated fragments are compounded, fused, or contradicted so that—by their own confronted violations as it were—physical matter becomes poetry.”
—From The Art of Assemblage exhibition catalog, William Seitz, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1961
EXHIBITIONS
SOLO:
Re|Context, The Art League Gallery, Torpedo Factory Art Center, Alexandria, Virginia, August 11 — September 5, 2021
Transcomplementations, Southern Ohio Museum and Cultural Center, Portsmouth, Ohio, June 29 — August 15, 2019
GROUP:
Artomatic 25, 2100 M Street, NW, Washington, DC, March 8 — April 28, 2024.
Our American Soul: National Juried Group Show, Gallery Underground, Arlington, Virginia, February 27 — March 29, 2024. 3rd prize recipient for “Self-Inflicted.”
Xylem: A Branch of the Permanent Collection, Southern Ohio Museum and Cultural Center, Portsmouth, Ohio, February, 2023 through Fall, 2023
Artists’ Choice: Regional Juried Group Show, Foundry Gallery, Washington, DC, August 4 — 27, 2023
Bits & Pieces, Falls Church Arts, Falls Church, Virginia, November 19, 2022 — January 8, 2023
Dada 2.0, Del Ray Artisans, Alexandria, Virginia, February 4 — 26, 2022
Line upon Line, Falls Church Arts, Falls Church, Virginia, November 6 — December 12, 2021
2021 Fall Salon, Target Gallery, Torpedo Factory Art Center, Alexandria, Virginia, November 10 — December 12, 2021
Smithsonian staff art shows 1998, 2011
JUROR:
44th Annual Show, Anderson Arts Center, Anderson, South Carolina, 2019
NEWS
Artist Showcase, Early Fall 2021, ArtsyShark, October 1, 2021
Blog Interview, Ten Questions for Bryan Sieling, The Art League, Alexandria, Virginia, August 13, 2021
Video Interview, The Art League, Alexandria, Virginia, August 12, 2021
BIO
2020 — present / Recontextualizer and Tinkerer at bryansieling.com, Alexandria, Virginia
2009 – 2020 / Chief of Design, National Museum of African American History & Culture, Washington, DC
2000 – 2008 / Chief of Design, Newseum, Arlington, Virginia and Washington, DC
1991 – 2000 / Exhibition Designer & Design Manager, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC
1989 – 1991 / Exhibition Designer, Staples & Charles, Ltd., Washington, DC
1983 – 1987 / Curator of Education & Ancient Legacies Exhibition Project Manager, Southern Ohio Museum & Cultural Center, Portsmouth, Ohio
1982 — 1983 / Volunteer docent and gallery assistant, Southern Ohio Museum & Cultural Center, Portsmouth, Ohio
EDUCATION
1987 - 1989 / M.A. Museum Studies with concentrations in exhibition and set design, The George Washington University, Washington, DC
1977 – 1981 / B.S. Environmental Education, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
1973 — 1977 / Portsmouth High School, Portsmouth, Ohio