In his work, Scott Teplin excavates the delicate territory between childhood wonder and the edges of danger; a space he first discovered through backyard experiments with fireworks and homemade potato cannons. These early adventures weren’t merely acts of rebellion; they marked his first encounters with the profound questions that continue to drive his artistic practice: Where does play end and peril begin? What transforms a hazard into an opportunity for discovery?

Growing up in an era of unsupervised exploration, Teplin was drawn to the thrill of testing boundaries. Each improvised experiment, whether successful or ending in spectacular failure, became a lesson in understanding risk, consequence, and the raw joy of discovery. These moments weren’t just about excitement; they were exercises in grasping cause and effect, in learning to weigh danger while preserving the essential spark of curiosity that defines childhood.

Today, Teplin’s artistic practice bridges these formative experiences with an adult understanding of their lasting impact. His work seeks to capture the precise moment when the eyes widen with possibility; when the ordinary transforms into the extraordinary. His pieces often incorporate elements that teeter on the edge of reality: familiar objects reimagined through the lens of curious investigation, where everyday items become portals to fantastic possibilities.

The tension between safety and discovery remains a central theme in Teplin’s work. He is fascinated by how humans intuitively navigate this balance, often with more wisdom than they’re given credit for. His installations and sculptures frequently play with scale and perspective, creating environments that evoke both the physical and emotional landscapes of childhood experimentation.

In an age where life experience has become increasingly structured and risk-averse, Teplin’s work stands as a testament to the value of unscripted discovery. It celebrates those moments of independent exploration that shape not only our understanding of the physical world but also our capacity for creative problem-solving and resilient thinking. Through his art, Teplin invites viewers to reconnect with their own memories, daring to remember the electric thrill of pushing boundaries, and the deep learning that comes from testing limits. Each piece serves as a reminder that growth often happens in that exhilarating space between caution and courage, where curiosity leads the way and discovery awaits those brave enough to explore.

Teplin’s interest is in the balance between control and chaos, inhabiting a world of precision and imagination, where structure is constantly challenged and systems stretch toward absurdity.

His architectural drawings are a masterclass in obsessive detail. Using isometric perspective; a form of technical drawing that flattens space into a readable grid; Teplin constructs sprawling, labyrinthine interiors without roofs, offering the viewer full access to their contents. These spaces feel simultaneously logical and surreal, reminiscent of architectural plans drawn by someone dreaming in code. Originally rooted in early experiments from the 1990s, this ongoing series has evolved to include visual impossibilities, nodding to artists like M.C. Escher and Oscar Reutersvärd. Despite their mathematical clarity, Teplin’s buildings are filled with mischief. They resist fixed interpretation, offering instead an invitation to wander and discover.

Teplin works primarily with pen, ink, watercolor, and gouache on paper, embracing the discipline of traditional materials while pushing them into unexpected territory. Across both major series, his practice is rooted in systems, grids, repetitions, and layered logic, yet the results are always alive with improvisation and unpredictability. Whether navigating the interior of a fictional compound or decoding the suspense of an impending explosion, viewers are invited into a world where precision and imagination collide.

Scott Teplin was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and has been living in New York City since 1995. While he largely avoided art classes as a young student, he began to shape his creative identity in his teens through boundary testing endeavors like dissecting fireworks, then creating new ones and making his own clothes. These early playful, imaginative, and sometimes risky pursuits continue to inform his work today.

Discovering the medium of watercolor during a year of study in Europe was transformative for Teplin. This set him on a path that gained footing through earning a BS degree in Art at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and an MFA in printmaking at University of Washington. 

Teplin has exhibited world-wide in Museums and commercial galleries since 1998. His work is included in the permanent collections of Museum of Modern Art (NY and SF), The New Museum, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Spencer Art Museum, Walker Art Center, Smithsonian Institution, Altoids Collection, New York Public Library, Phoenix Public Library, MIT, University of Virginia, Cornell University, Harvard University, Yale University, University of Washington, University of Wisconsin, Wesleyan University, Stanford University, The California College of Arts and Crafts, University of Iowa, Occidental College, Johns Hopkins Children's Hospital, Turku University Hospital - Finland, Penn and Teller, and Progressive Insurance.