Brenda Hurst
I create paintings, assemblages, and sculptural installations, using a mix of mediums, to explore my interest in the destiny of change and transformation. I use parts of the old to build something new.
My pieces are inspired by a sense of reverence for the beauty of life, with its decay and erosion, and then the emergence of, or rebirth of what grows from that. They reflect my fascination with nature’s ever-changing pantheon of shapes, patterns, surface qualities, and colors that go along with the cycles of life. This thought process has also led me to continually use experimentation in my work. The act of discovering new methods and materials, whether with old rusted tin cans, wire or encaustic wax, leaves me open to that almost magical moment when I see how something new reacts with something else, how they fuse together or not. I’m fascinated by the imagery invoked by the vision of a life force that’s not in our control, which shakes us from our complacency, and pushes us to a renewed life . . . if we want it or not. (e.g. most recently the Eaton Fire!)
"I was able to save about five of my pieces from the house and studio before the fire took them both. I also lost ten pieces that were in a show at the Eaton Canyon Nature Center, which burned down the same night/early next morning. Luckily, I have 3 pieces that were in another show in a gallery that didn’t burn down at the time of the fire. So I have eight pieces of art left.”
The six pieces shown above represent my approx. 200 art pieces lost that night in the Eaton Fire.
My pieces are inspired by a sense of reverence for the beauty of life, with its decay and erosion, and then the emergence of, or rebirth of what grows from that. They reflect my fascination with nature’s ever-changing pantheon of shapes, patterns, surface qualities, and colors that go along with the cycles of life. This thought process has also led me to continually use experimentation in my work. The act of discovering new methods and materials, whether with old rusted tin cans, wire or encaustic wax, leaves me open to that almost magical moment when I see how something new reacts with something else, how they fuse together or not. I’m fascinated by the imagery invoked by the vision of a life force that’s not in our control, which shakes us from our complacency, and pushes us to a renewed life . . . if we want it or not. (e.g. most recently the Eaton Fire!)
"I was able to save about five of my pieces from the house and studio before the fire took them both. I also lost ten pieces that were in a show at the Eaton Canyon Nature Center, which burned down the same night/early next morning. Luckily, I have 3 pieces that were in another show in a gallery that didn’t burn down at the time of the fire. So I have eight pieces of art left.”
The six pieces shown above represent my approx. 200 art pieces lost that night in the Eaton Fire.