Dylan Fitzgibbons (He/Him), currently based in Phoenix, Arizona is an interdisciplinary artist that explores the notion of thin places, mythologies/folktales, and the meeting place of real and imagined.
The land we walk and the stories we hear shape how we navigate through the world. When Dylan first learned about Icelandic folktales involving elves back in 2017, it became apparent that those stories laid some of the groundwork that has led to Iceland becoming a role model in sustainability. Elves gave the perspective of respecting the land, understanding that not all we know is seen and that there is always more to be seen. Folktales, mythologies, and spirituality all take from the fabric of the imagination and weave together with facets of reality, altering how we understand ourselves as well as our surroundings. Realizing this, he aims to create sculptures that enhance our reality or teeter between ideas of real and imagined.
During his time at NES, he is exploring the lands that have inspired a rich folkloric and mythological history to better understand how to harness the energy of thin places and entice the viewer’s imagination to overlap with reality.