Brooke Marks-Swanson
Jeweller
Published: 23.10.2020
- Mail:
- brookemswanson
gmail.com
Brooke Marks-Swanson is a metal and textile artist currently living in the Midwest. She speaks of her obsessions and observations through a universal language of textile and metal wearable art. She received her MFA in Metals from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, and a BFA in Jewelry Design and Metalsmithing from Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. Her works have been exhibited nationally over 100 juried and invitational exhibitions and most recently included internationally in exhibitions in Canada, Greece, Spain and France. Marks-Swanson has been included in 17 publications including the notable Metalsmith Magazine Exhibition in Print 2009, 2014, 2016, 2017. Three Lark Book Publications: 500 Plates and Chargers, The Craft of Silversmithing, and The Art of Enameling. In August 2016, her first solo exhibition titled, “Baskets: Increase/Decrease”, was held at Velvet da Vinci, San Francisco, California. Most recently, Marks-Swanson spoke at SOFA Chicago 2016, on a panel titled: FIBER ART IN THREE DIMENSIONS: A History and Discussion of Fiber Art Off The Wall. Her work can be found in the Muzeum w Walbrzychu, Walbrzych, Poland, The Sparta Teapot Museum of Craft and Design, Sparta, North Carolina, and The Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland, Oregon.
Statement
Created to shield us from the environment, textiles became a form of expression and a universal language. Through the tactile intimacy of my textile jewelry, I affirm our primal need to connect to the land and seek to understand the human condition. Purposeful color combinations reflect visceral feelings of seasonal change, uncertainty, and even hope. Natural disasters and climate crisis are at the forefront of mind, our mother Earth mirroring human condition: calm, violent, refreshing, threatening, and moments of tranquil as we continue to take from her. My awareness evolves and my obligation to connect persists. Variegated terrain, opposing clusters of fiber, metal and stone- all in balance reveal fantastical landscapes and uncertain futures. Contemporary amulets emerge.About Topiary Circus series
Feelings of melancholy linger during COVID-19. Daily life has become a great circus act - swinging aimlessly, balancing, juggling stunts - in a menagerie of fear. I miss the grandeur. Deep inside remains a persistence to feel grounded in nature. The art of topiary exhibits years of practice and patience, becoming the foundation from which I build my narrative. Wishing away the languid, I craft a duality of controlled and fantastical. I make connections among nature, balance, and chaos - through which contemporary talismans emerge. In a cruel world, under the big circus tent in which we find ourselves today, where do you dream of fleeing?
CV 
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