"Color Study" by Jean Brennan

What makes you truly happy?

color!

Short Bio

Jean Brennan received her MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts from Sierra Nevada University in 2019. She holds a Masters degree in Communications Design from Pratt Institute and a Bachelors in World Literature and Cultural Studies from the University of California at Santa Cruz. In 2003, she completed an apprenticeship in ecological horticulture with the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems at UCSC. This diverse course of study informs a love for plants and language and a transdisciplinary approach to making. Jean has exhibited in solo and group shows in New York, Amsterdam, California, the Hudson Valley, and Nevada. She is a Professor in the Graduate MFA Communications Design Department at Pratt Institute. 

As an interdisciplinary thinker, Brennan works at the intersection between ecology, language, alchemy, and the body. Recurring themes include a fascination with atmospheric forces, plants, phenomenology,  and color. Using the lyrical essay as method, she loosely assembles scientific research, historical and popculture references with personal reflection, to explore our relationship to the natural world, interspecies dependency, and models of resiliency. Brennan uses design to publish, archive, and visually score projects that may include installation, video, sculpture and performance.

Artist Statement

As an interdisciplinary artist, I work at the intersection between ecology, language, alchemy, and the body. Recurring themes include a fascination with atmospheric forces, plants, phenomenology, and color. Using the lyrical essay as method, I loosely assemble scientific research, historical and pop culture references with personal reflection, to explore our relationship to the natural world, interspecies dependency, and models of resiliency.  I use design to publish, archive, and visually score projects that may include installation, video, sculpture and performance.