Art

Farnham Gallery exhibit - Prilla Smith Brackett

Prilla Smith BrackettBrackett's landscapes are widely known for their conceptual approach. She explores the theme of human intervention through depictions of the overlap between civilization and nature, drawing on images from her own neighborhood as well as her worldwide travels. A recognizable affinity for trees and forests provides a sense of continuity and a rich source of ideas.

Prilla Smith Brackett's current work, shown in the Farnham Galleries, takes a more personal and dream-like turn. Brackett explores the intermingling of the domestic with the natural by weaving semi-transparent furniture from another era into old-growth forest scenes. "In this work," she says, "I’ve returned to forest images but have incorporated a bed or a chair, from an old family house. When furniture from a previous era is placed in a forest I find such narrative uncertainty fascinating."

She adds, "Forests have played a large role in our histories. They have given us raw material and air cleansed of carbon dioxide. They have long been scary places on civilization's edge as well as places of refuge and hidden secrets, of solace and spirituality, of make-believe. My work brings forth such associations in viewers. I create spaces where the imagination can wander and memory can surface."

Later in the fall Brackett will be exhibiting a different selection of this body of work at the Hess Gallery, Pine Manor College, Chestnut Hill, MA. Other solo exhibits have included ones at DeCordova Museum & Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MA and the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC, as well as an exhibit that traveled to 8 venues in ME, VA, NH, PA, MA, CT, TN, NY. Her honors include multiple residencies at the Virginia Center of Creative Arts, the Ragdale Foundation, Ucross Foundation, and the Millay Colony for the Arts, and a fellowship in painting at the Bunting Institute at Radcliffe College. She received her MFA from the University of Nebraska/Lincoln.

Brackett - artwork

Last Updated: 11/18/11