ARTIST STATEMENT
Emergence is a body of work using concrete as a metaphor for the overlapping, smothering systems of oppression that plague the working class and women worldwide. It is also symbolic of fascism, which paves over diversity in favor of uniformity and seeks to eliminate the “other”, doing so with force and fear. More directly, concrete is a vehicle for the destruction of habitat worldwide, erasing vibrant landscapes and leaving heat and emptiness in their place. Women find the cracks in the concrete and tear them wide open, pulling themselves out and pausing to plant seeds of hope and resilience. They break through dams, smash walls that border them in, and tenderly water the native plants that will help restore the landscape. It is a story of resistance, solidarity, and liberation.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Brooke is a figurative oil painter, nurse, and community organizer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her work infuses a Classically-inspired approach to the figure with contemporary sociopolitical commentary. She studied figure drawing under Mark Greenwalt before earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Texas Medical Branch in 2015. After working as a pediatric CVICU nurse for nearly a decade, she received her Master of Fine Art in Painting and Drawing from the Academy of Art University in 2023. Her main bodies of work, Two Degrees Warmer and Emergence, explore the convergence of feminism, environmentalism, and resistance to oppression. Brooke’s art has been showcased at the Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art, WI, and in galleries in Minneapolis, New Orleans, and Chicago. When not painting, Brooke can be found organizing with her community or somewhere in nature.
© Brooke Bartholomew