Man on a Limb, 1985
Papier-Mache, 48" x 72"
Painter, 1989
Cast and Painted Polyethylene, 77 1/2" x 28"
Stephen Hansen was born in Tacoma, Washington, in 1950 and is a self-taught artist. His prints and papier-mâché sculptures have been exhibited internationally through the United States Information Agency and in the United States at museums and galleries, including the Lakeview Museum, Peoria, Illinois, the Byer Museum of the Arts, Evanston, Illinois, the Smith-Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto, California, and the Zenith Gallery, Washington, D.C. His work is included in numerous corporate collections, including that of Herman Miller, Inc., and private collections. Hansen’s humorous, gently satirical sculptures of “Everyman” show the figure engaged in all sorts of routine activities –working around the house, talking on the telephone, leaning against a ledge. His often life-size figures seem to conspire with the viewer in good-humored, prankish jokes.
*Excerpted from Tools as Art: the Hechinger Collection, published by Harry N. Abrams Inc.