Todd McCollister

WEBSITE https://toddmccollister.com/

EMAIL tmccollister@gmail.com

INSTAGRAM @longgrainfurniture

Todd McCollister manages dual careers as a sculptor and furniture maker. “At times the boundary between the two fields gets thin or hazy, maybe on purpose,” Todd said. 

He earned a BFA in Sculpture and Photography from Texas Christian University and an MFA in Sculpture from Stony Brook University. After working in both sculpture and furniture in New York City, he returned home to Omaha and founded Long Grain Furniture.

Todd advocates for support and mutual mentorship among his fellow Omaha artists. This is evident in his monthly event series called “First Tuesdays at Todd’s,” aimed at bringing the community together and sharing expertise. After putting aside sculpture for more than 10 years, Todd rededicated himself to this work. There remains a fluid boundary between his two artistic endeavors, and sometimes interplay between them.

ARTIST STATEMENT: 

In the Long Shadow Series, I begin by forming a pattern. Then I fill it with epoxy, mount it on a lathe, and carve compound curves on it. These curves perform the magic trick of stretching and distorting the pattern like a shadow in the afternoon sun. I can’t really quite predict the shapes that will come out of the process, and I love the surprises. I accept and lean into some of them as I’m carving (turning), and others I reject by carving them away. The carving feels like a kind of collaboration with something I don’t understand, even though it came from me.