Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Dylan King. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Dylan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

Sculpting, molding, and casting learned through the art of plaster restoration(7years) and 8 years of schooling has given me the opportunity to have my artistic fingerprint in throughout Kansas City. From sculpted molded and cast pieces for a chapel in St. Pius X, which was the first job of that scale, though it was for my day job I learned so much from every step of that. to large 36in sculpted Corbel for the front door of JC Nicholes old home for the new owners, which ended up being my first commission piece that planted the seed. As well as creating custom sculpted spiral column floor lamps for a Vanderbilt Mansion in Newport, RI which ended up being my first commission for my LLC Found Space Studios. which I am currently running with many products that relate to my eye-opening experience in historical restoration.

Dylan, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. As far back as I can remember my mom placed me, my brother, and sister in art classes, but what really changed my thoughts about creating was when I first heard of our city’s public arts magnet school, Booker T. Washington high school. I knew that it was where I needed to go. I immediately enrolled in an art class designed to create pieces for a portfolio and assignments to fill a sketchbook for the 4-part interview process to get into the school.

I consistently learned about processes that expanded my creative possibilities, learning welding & metalwork, ceramics, printmaking, and jewelry making, also expanding my knowledge of drawing and painting, from many amazing teachers like Eva Kutscheid and Nancey Miller. During my junior year, college reps pitched to us and the one that really stood out to me was the Kansas City Art Institute. I knew this was where I needed to go. Staying in touch with the reps as a senior I was invited to attend a summer program through KCAI in New York City.

That was where I met Russell Ferguson and a small group of students who were my first introduction to the arts college. After my first year at Kansas City art institute, and an ever creatively expanding foundation year I attended a ceramics study abroad program in Kecskemét, Hungary with George Timok. Here was my first introduction to molds learning from a master plaster mold maker for slip casting. Coming back, I decided to enter the sculpture program where I learned new processes and continued my knowledge of others, parallel to studying art history and collaborating with digital artists, painters, sculptors and printmakers. During my senior year I had a group show at the Vulpes Bastille Gallery in the crossroads with Brandon Kintzer and Steven Zelnio, making an installation show that we were all proud of.

After graduating, I began working a full-time fulfillment job, and had over a year of small monthly sponsored art shows until the gallery closed. I found a small historical restoration company and, learning from Dave Boux, discovered techniques that sparked a passion for the preservation of traditional methods that are noticeably scarce today. Spending 5 years now in the field, between laboring, I have had the opportunity to hand-sculpt, cast, and install more than a few architectural pieces in the city with two separate companies.

I have personally had commissioned pieces the past few years such as getting to work on a large corbel sculpt for the front door of the JC Nichols House near the plaza, and most recently, a pair of 6 ft. custom sculpted plaster spiral column floor lamps made for the design studio SWOON (based in Dallas) for their redesign of the Vanderbilt mansion in Newport, Rhode Island. I started my company Found Space Studios to handle these commissions, but I have also been making my own personal work to sell, as well as continuing to collaborate with artists I know and admire. I am currently a fabricator for a local Kansas City Museum, The Rabbit hOle an immersive children’s book museum, the world’s first explore-a-storium. set to open by the end of 2023

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Honestly didn’t even hear of historical restoration until over a year out of college. I wish I knew this earlier because it taught me so much about the construction field which becomes extremely useful in day-to-day life of a fabricator as well as these businesses are small, so it gave me real world experience in some areas of that as well.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Being able to create something from nothing is simple but to me it doesn’t matter whether it gets a lot of attention or if it sits in a box for many years. it is rewarding to be able to remember my experiences making a piece and all the things learned from every piece before that, to create something new in the next piece. I simply wouldn’t be happy doing anything else.

Contact Info:

• Website: foundspacestudios.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/found_space_studios/
• Facebook: facebook.com/people/Found-Space-Studios/100071545973669/
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/dylanmichaelking/

Image Credits
Photos by Dylan Michael King