‘Artist Spotlight’ Of The Week: Josh Brooke Coté

Howdy Nation! In today’s post, we are going to be featuring our ‘Artist Spotlight’ of the week: Josh Brooke Coté. Josh is an expert when it comes to wire sculptures- and this octopus piece really says it all. He is here to give us a closer look at how he created this octopus art sculpture and everything he needed to create it.

Meet Josh Brooke Coté!

I would love for you all to meet Josh- the fantastic artist who created this octopus wire sculpture.

Josh Brooke Coté is a sculptor and artist. He has been creating different pieces of art his entire life, and he loves it! Josh’s sculptures are usually nature-inspired or magical realism creations that often take inspiration from H.P Lovecraft’s Cthulhu stories.

We are really excited to have him here and learn more about how he uses wire to create different shapes in art form.

Let’s do it!

What draws you in or fascinates you the most about octopuses? When did this start for you? 

“When it comes to octopuses, I love the mystery and alien nature of all of the species. I also like how they could be a link to other worlds and other consciousness.

I have sculpted octopuses for over 20 years and I can definetely see myself doing this for another 20… at least that!”

OctoNation members love knowing how long your work takes you to complete… Can you describe the process?

“Well, creating something like this sculpture is pretty time consuming. Each piece takes weeks or even months of work, depending on the design. For this specific art piece, I had to use miles and miles of wires plus some needle nose pliers to build it.

It really came together beautifully!”

Was this modeled after a specific octopus species? Did you use any references?

“To create this specific octopus wire sculpture, I used different photo references of multiple octopus species to create this piece. Being able to see the octopus from different angles and seeing how different they were helped me create the ultimate sculpture!”

What did you use to make this octopus sculpture? 

“For this specific sculpture, I used hay baling wire.”

Who (or what) are your biggest influences?

“I have 2 really big influences when it comes to creating art sculptures:

1. Nature

2. The urge to find meaning in a scary chaotic world

Those two things alone inspire me to imagine and create more art!”

When do you feel the most creative?

“It usually happens when I am in the deep of it. You know, that moment when you get so lost or consumed by something. That is definetely when I feel most creative!

I’m no longer thinking of creating, but I am actually DOING it.”

How do you know when a piece is finished? 

“Most of the time, it’s really more about how I am feeling about the piece. Once I start pulling away from a sculpture, that pretty much tells me I am done. Also, when my wrists start to hurt from working with the wire, I need to take a break or finish up the piece.”

What’s the best website for people to discover your work?

“You can find me and see pictures of my work on my website: cotefineart.com!”

Do you have an artist statement?

“We have art in order not to die of the truth.”

                                                          Friedrich Nietzsche

🐙 Octopus Fun Fact

He was named after a Brooke trout by his fly fisherman father!

Thank You For Joining Us For Artist Spotlight!

First, we want to give a big thank you to Josh for allowing us to showcase this beautiful octopus sculpture on OctoNation. To continue supporting Josh and his art, make sure to follow him on Instagram @joshcoteart. If you have any interest in commissioning a piece from them, send him a message.

If you want to educate yourself some more about all sorts of different cephalopods, take a look at our encyclopedia. Or, what we call it, our Octopedia!

Connect with other octopus lovers via the OctoNation Facebook group, OctopusFanClub.com! Make sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram to keep up to date with the conservation, education, and ongoing research of cephalopods.

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