Artist Statement
Chelsea Brant is a mixed-race Indigenous / German artist and curator whose work reflects on and engages with lived-experiences, vicarious re-encounters, intimate moments, and memory. Extracting image fragments from photo-based documentation, she uses both a reductive and a collective collage approach to weave compiled moments into a sort of “story-quilt.”
Brant’s work is developed through the mediums of cut and paste collage, paint, language, and in-the-moment inspired mediums/objects. Using fragmentation and assemblage of place, time, and space, these artworks present themes of joy and trauma simultaneously. Using visuals from old family photographs, life cycles of plants, and found imagery of idyllic travel destinations, her work deals with diverse subject matter through connected themes and similar sentiments. Often, her works are compiled into series, creating additional narratives; a way to build up momentum of understanding and of atmosphere in a body of work. Brant’s purpose in creating work and curating exhibitions is to both understand her own personal lived experiences on a deeper conscious level and to connect visually and emotively with her audiences through familiarity within the human experience.
Artist Bio
Chelsea Brant (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist and independent curator, currently teaching Drawing at Sheridan College in Oakville and Professional Practices at McMaster University in Hamilton. Brant received a BFA degree from the University of Guelph, and an MFA from the University of Saskatchewan. She has worked for several arts organizations within administrative roles, curatorial assistantships as well as program coordination positions and has served on several arts boards, including her most recent role with Nuit Blanche YXE Festival Board of Directors. Brant’s artistic work has been exhibited locally, nationally, and internationally with her most recent solo exhibition presented at The Gallery at Art Placement in Saskatoon, SK.
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