CREATIVE DISCIPLINE-

Visual Art and Community Practice

PRIMARY MEDIUM(S)-
installation, public intervention, works on paper, and photography

ARTIST STATEMENT-
My art practice is multi-disciplinary and I work primarily in installation, public intervention, works on paper, and photography. I use storytelling and radical vulnerability to deconstruct/reconstruct themes of identity, relationship, habit, social-political dynamics, and the Self. I am interested in the roots and effects of interpersonal disconnection on the human condition and how our coping habits both serve and trap us. Working concept first, I have a studio practice that is heavy-handed in my artistic voice as well as a community practice, which is collectively manifested with a community. I view the process and my artworks as a constructive tool and rallying point for conversation, record, and world-building. I am excited about exploring narrative through everyday objects and the use of interactive elements to activate the static and familiar. My influences include Sonya Clark, Otobong Nkanga, Frida Kahlo, Michael Rakowitz, Octavia Butler, and the moon. At the Queens Botanical Garden, I would love to create large scale rubbings or photos of sites around Queens to install in and interact with the gardens. I would cut out the negative space so a unique window or fencing would become scaffolding and platforms for plants to become part of the scene. Selection of the sites could be brainstormed with Queens residents through social platforms. A walk through the garden would become a tour of special moments in the area. Another idea would be to use the plants to make botanical dyes and tokens that an installation and workshop could be created from. I love finding possibilities. 

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY- 

Brianna Harlan is a multidisciplinary artist and organizer. She works conceptually in multiform, socially engaged art. Her work is driven by the need to confront how systems violently condition our relational identity, and how that influences quality of life, health, and habits. Brianna is a Kentucky Foundation for Women Fire Starter awardee. Her most recent residencies were at Oxbow School of Art and Artists’ Residency and Materia Abierta in Mexico City. Current projects include an AR Monument to Breonna Taylor and the #SayHerName Movement, made in collaboration with 4th Wall, 21c Museum Hotels, and Breonna’s family and an equity in arts initiative in Louisville, KY that was featured in ARTNews. Harlan also leads community experiences and presentations, having been a speaker at For Freedoms and the Kentucky ACLU events. She is currently pursuing her MFA in Art and Social Practice at Queens College, CUNY and made her New York gallery debut with a solo exhibition: Black Love Blooms: New York Nook in September 2020.

Facebook-
https://www.facebook.com/briannaharlanstudio

Instagram-
https://www.instagram.com/_briannaharlan/

BRIANNA HARLAN

Ridgewood, NY, U.S.A.