Featured Artist of the Month : Bruce Sigmund Dilenschneider Sep. 2025 | TheArtList - Art & Photo Calls for Visual Artists and Photographers.

Bruce Sigmund Dilenschneider

Redding, Connecticut, USA

Note from the Narrator: As Bruce’s mother, I write these responses on his behalf. At just three years old, Bruce cannot yet put into words what he creates, but I am his closest witness. I watch his process unfold daily—his instinctive gestures, his layered emotions, his quiet intensity. My role is not to speak for him, but to protect his truth and translate his journey until the time comes when he can speak for himself.

Note from TheArtList: During judging of our monthly contests, the artist's age is unknown, so it's remarkable that Bruce could create art such as he has at such a young age.
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Bruce Sigmund Dilenschneider, age three, is an abstract painter whose fearless, layered works are already drawing international attention. His canvases are emotional landscapes—bold, textured, and unapologetically alive. Raised in a home overflowing with creativity, Bruce paints instinctively, as though the canvas is an extension of his inner being. Each work is an unfiltered record of joy, struggle, and transformation.

While his art travels far, Bruce himself remains private and unseen. He is not a performer, but a creator. Much like Banksy, his presence is felt through the work itself rather than through appearances.

How and when did you start creating art?

Bruce began creating art as soon as his tiny hands could hold a brush. By one year old, he was already reaching for paint instinctively. While many children preferred toys, Bruce gravitated toward canvases, color, and texture. His art has never been “taught” or structured—it has always been his natural language for processing the world.

What media and genres do you work in?

Bruce works in acrylics and mixed media on canvas. His process often includes embedding fabric flowers, glitter, toy fragments, and other objects into thick, layered paint. His genre is pure abstraction—unrestrained, emotional, and fearless.

Who or what are your influences?

Bruce’s greatest influence is his environment. Our home is filled with art—nearly a hundred paintings cover the walls, and creativity spills across carpets, corners, and daily life. He has always been free to create without judgment, without restriction, and without fear of making a mess.

Art runs in his blood. On my side of the family, creativity and sensitivity run deep. I have always painted as well, though privately, often channeling my work into fashion, prints, and accessories. Bruce, however, creates with a force that surpasses me—his work feels alive in a way that insists on being shared.

Another vital influence is his godfather, Arkadiusz (Arek) Harlacz, who recognized Bruce’s extraordinary gift early on. Arek has become Bruce’s most steadfast supporter—his PR voice, his champion, and an investor in his future. He is the wheel that helps keep Bruce’s art moving out into the world while ensuring his spirit remains protected.

So Bruce’s influences are layered: his own deep emotions, his family lineage of artists, the freedom of a home without judgment, and the unwavering belief of a godfather who pushes him toward greatness.

What was your inspiration for
BSD #117
?

“BSD #117” is one of Bruce’s most layered and emotionally charged works. It unfolded over more than a week, beginning in a place of sorrow. After a painful family experience, Bruce came home distraught—so much so that he suffered a panic attack. He reached for the canvas immediately, pouring out darkness in heavy black and red strokes, even embedding the figure of a snake into the early layers.

But as the days passed and his spirit began to mend, the painting transformed. He added new colors—yellows, pinks, bursts of neon, galaxies of glitter. Slowly, the darkness gave way to vibrancy. By the end, the work had become an explosion of resilience, joy, and renewal.

In many ways, “BSD #117” is a journey on canvas: from fear to freedom, from heaviness to light. Each of its seven-plus layers carries the story of a child transforming pain into beauty.

Describe your creative process?

Bruce paints with pure instinct. I watch him approach the canvas with no plan, only feeling. He uses brushes, his hands, toys, or pours paint directly, layering quickly and fearlessly. He often embeds objects that spark his imagination—flowers, glitter, fragments of play. His process is a dance between chaos and clarity. And when he feels a painting is finished, there is no hesitation—he simply knows.

What are you working on currently?

At the moment, Bruce is exploring with greater intricacy and freedom. His process has become almost mercurial—he builds layers, then erases them, only to return again with fresh color or unexpected texture. A canvas may evolve for days, sometimes weeks, before it speaks in its truest voice. Rarely does he resolve a painting in a single sitting.

Recently, he has begun working on two canvases side by side. They are not deliberate pairs, yet they often mirror each other in mood and palette—like siblings born from the same moment of imagination. Their conversation across the studio is becoming an intriguing chapter in his evolving practice.

What are your near/long term goals as an artist?

For Bruce, there is no roadmap—and that is exactly as it should be. He is only three years old, and art is not something we would ever force upon him. If he is still painting at ten, wonderful. If he stops tomorrow, that too will be part of his truth.

What matters is what he has already created—over 130 works, some commanding, some raw, all undeniably his own. His paintings have already shown in galleries, and they carry a gravity that surprises even seasoned viewers.

My role, along with his godfather’s, is to safeguard that authenticity. Bruce does not create for press or publicity. He has never attended his own openings and does not sit for interviews. He is not a spectacle, but a maker. Like Banksy, his art speaks louder than his presence.

Long-term, our aim is to preserve and archive his body of work, share it selectively with collectors and institutions, and ensure he always has the freedom to choose his own path. If this is a fleeting chapter, it will stand as a remarkable one. If it becomes lifelong, the foundation is already strong. Either way, our task is not to exploit it, but to protect it.