Marilyn Brown
Artist Statement
Marilyn's work is inspired by indigenous art, grounded in nature, and is a celebration of the beauty and sorrow of life and death. She first came to my art life after the death of a beloved friend. Consumed by grief, she needed to make meaning of death and find a way through her heartbreak and loss. One day as she picked up one of the bones in her house she felt a sacred awareness arise within her. She understood that death and life are inseparable, and that we can either struggle against or respect and honor this foundational truth. Life is about learning to move through, not around, death. Her first piece, which she completed in 3 1/2 months, was consecrated with many tears of both sorrow and joy.
When she is holding a bare bone, skull, or antler in her hands, an energy of excitement and elation rises within her. She dedicates each piece to the ancestors and to the spirit of the animal, and they guide her hands in creating the unique design. Each bead is placed with prayer and honoring. As she moves deeper in the process she often finds herself mourning death and praising life simultaneously. In her studio in Cerrillos she is constantly experimenting with new materials: from hand-tanned leather to glass beads, semi-precious jewels to metals, opals to obsidian. Each tiny bead and element dreamt into to bring visual, spiritual, and emotional balance. The result is a holy intersection of art and death, loss and life.
Bio
As a Native American, African American , and European American artist Marilyn Brown finds inspiration in honoring intersections and boundaries. From her earliest years growing up in the Pacific Northwest she remembers collecting bones and feathers and creating altars to her ancestors. As a rare woman furniture builder, Brown fell in love with the art and detail of giving wood new life. It was the death of a close friend that shifted her path from craftswoman to artist. Her unusual canvas, bones and antlers, is the base of an incredibly detailed song of color and patterns. As a new artist working on the cutting edge of her medium, numerous art critics and gallery owners have praised Brown's work as "completely original" and "electrifying." She is dedicated to using her art to help humans reconnect with the powerful intersections of life and death.
Marylin sells her work on a commission basis. Based on the design and size of a skull the commission price is usually between $4,000.00 and $5,000 to create a unique piece of art.