Peter Woytuk

Art has always been an important part of Peter Woytuk’s life. “My father was an architect and encouraged all of his children to be creative. We spent summers in Europe looking at architecture and learning about art. I like the tactile aspect of art, so that’s why sculpture works for me.”

It has worked so well for him that he has been called the greatest animal sculptor of the Western world. Although he started out thinking he would become a photographer, he was drawn to the possibilities of creating images with his own hands.

“I was never able to combine sculpture and photography,” Woytuk explained. “But I always start with a mental image. I spend a lot of time looking at something and thinking – about how things line up – the juxtaposition of objects and space begins to form in my mind. And then I will sketch it out.’

And from that sketch, Woytuk begins his creation. But while his sketches are the inspiration, it is his hands that create the form. “To be a successful piece, it needs to work in 360 degrees. I try very hard not to make a piece have a front. You need to be able to walk around it and view it from all angles.”

Although he is branching out and making birds and fruit, Woytuk’s great love and the inspiration for most of his work is animals. After college, he had the opportunity to work for the sculptor Philip Grausman in Connecticut. “I started out sweeping floors and learning by watching him. I lived in the barn on his property where his horses were kept. I was in charge of taking care of all the animals and they became my models.”

Besides the giant animals he creates, he is known for his highly stylized ravens and adds a few new ones to his collection every year. And bulls, we can’t forget the bulls. The Hotchkiss School has two of them prominently featured on its campus.

Although he travels extensively, from Thailand to Hong Kong and other exotic parts to oversee his work, Woytuk is happy to spend time in Connecticut whenever he can. Billy Morrison, owner of the eponymous gallery in Kent has made it possible for him to have a showcase for his work, as well as a space in which he can create. The place where he began has now become his home base.

Morrison was also instrumental in Woytuk’s colossal show in collaboration with the Broadway Mall Association in New York City. A five-mile-long display featuring his work -- the largest solo outdoor show in the city’s history. “It was a landmark for both Billy and me,” Woytuk said. “And hard to forget or to surpass.”

But Woytuk continues to create, produce, and inspire. Besides traveling to the Orient and to various art fairs, he is now getting ready to unveil a piece for Trinity Church in lower Manhattan – a lion and a lamb, symbolizing peace and illustrating the extraordinary talent that is Peter Woytuk.