Steve LeGrand: Sculpture

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It's not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

---Nelson Mandela

“The artist’s work remains for centuries, preserved by the people who’s lives it has inspired; valued, not as a pretty object, but as an asset to humanity.” ---S. D. LeGrand

Steve LeGrand was born in Los Angeles, CA, and from an early age displayed the qualities of a budding artist. Due to parental pressure, he was, however, strongly discouraged from pursuing this career. He ultimately pursued a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in Virginia; and worked creating conceptual and practical machine tool design. The three and a half years spent as a design engineer provided Steve with deep technical knowledge that would ultimately aid him in creating his work as a sculptor. Dying inside from lack of human interaction, he decided to create new financial opportunity so he could leave the technical world, and ventured into the more social environment of real estate. He finally pursued his long-standing interest in sculpting in North Carolina, in 1997. While in the midst of a bitter divorce, Steve was prevented from seeing his children for several months. He missed them so deeply that he was motivated to sculpt each child; starting with the oldest child Luke. He later gained full custody of his children, but the time spent in separation from them fired a passion to sculpt that would not die. After doing the first bust, he decided sculpture was his true calling. Still largely occupied as an investor in real estate, he continued to sculpt the members of his family. Art began to choose him for a career, as people began commissioning him to sculpt busts of their loved ones. As the real estate market began to decline, and became less demanding, Steve was able to devote his intense creative energy toward sculpting full time. Many of Steve’s figurative works have been donated for auction. These sculptures have benefited such causes as The American Heart Association, arts-based schools, dance academies, and environmental conservation. He feels that donating such work is a vital step in giving back for what has been given to him, while depending on his portrait commissions for financial sustenance. An emerging sculptor, Steve LeGrand’s mission is to sculpt the human experience, to reach beyond existence into meaning and emotion, and connect humanity.