I do not put the pressure of producing goodness in the sense of moral virtue into the world on my work. Sometimes artists are thinking and creating work around an ideal. At other times, artists are making work around a truth. Good and true do not always align. Art that is good is powerful; that also does not always align with moral goodness.
As a part of our series about “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became An Artist” I had the pleasure of interviewing Colleen Brown.
Colleen Brown is known primarily as a sculptor. Her first book, If you lie down in a field, she will find you there, will be released on October 3, 2023. Colleen created visual artworks related to the book at the Ranger Station Gallery in Harrison Hot Springs. Colleen is one of the current Artists in Residence in Maple Ridge, Canada.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
I was born in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. In my first memory, I am walking through a field with one of our dogs, Chestnut. I think this was memorable because I felt comfortable exploring a long way from home with my companion. We were equals with our own interests as we moved through the field.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
I was equally interested in academics and fine arts when I finished high school. I applied to go to art school and a more traditional university. My application to art school was rejected, but I was accepted into university, so I studied psychology.
I got a job at a college supporting psychology students and faculty. I was happy in the role, but on my train commute to work, I entertained myself by imagining making a sculpture. I thought about the same sculpture for a year. I finally got bored thinking about it and decided if I made it, I could move on and think about something else. As soon as I finished making it thoughts of a new sculpture invaded my commute. It never stopped.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
The best reason for becoming an artist is that interesting things happen all the time.
I went to Europe with one of my sculpting mentors. When we got to the Tate Modern we learned an artist we knew, an artist from Vancouver, was part of a show opening that night. I didn’t have an invitation, but I was sure the gallery would understand and give me an invitation. I had travelled all this way. How extraordinary and exciting that a friend would be showing at the gallery on the other side of the world. My mentor let me know how naive I was. I insisted and walked up to the reception area with my compelling request. The answer was, “There is no way a friend of yours is in a show at the Tate.” And that is how I learned how my accent, clothing and bearing were received in Britain. We swept out of the gallery — through the back entrance — where we happened to run into a friend of my mentor, a fellow sculptor. She reached into her bag and pulled out a fist full of invitations to the opening that night and offered us both one.
It was a lovely opening.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
I have just completed my first book, If you lie down in a field, she will find you there. I am excited about working in a new creative arena and learning how the publishing industry works.
While in the middle of a divorce and in the process of reinventing herself, my mother suddenly died in 1974. Two years later, a stranger confessed to her murder. What propels the book is a desire to recover my mother’s life, obscured by the spectacle of her death. I was a child when my mother died, but I remember vividly the shroud of silence surrounding my mother’s death and, by extension, her life. If you lie down is a memoir that challenges society’s true crime obsession, replacing a story of mom’s death with a story of her life.
The book captures the cadence of family stories collected through interviews I conducted with my siblings. These stories pile up together the way they might around a dinner table. The narrative accepts the fact that aspects of the family story will remain obscure while other parts are indelible. The book is available at Radiant Press. https://radiantpress.ca/shop/p/ifyouliedown
Who are some of the most interesting people you have interacted with? What was that like?
I work with Johnny Trinh at Vancouver Poetry House. Johnny is an inspired Artistic Director with a unique commitment to collaborative partnerships. Watching Johnny curate and develop opportunities for spoken word artists has improved my community engagement projects.
Working closely with people is always a self-guided tour of your own strengths and weaknesses. By working with Johnny, I’ve seen how valuable arts administration is in supporting creative work and that I have skills to offer. Johnny has also provided an example of prioritizing relationships in an art practice. I am a task-focused person, always wanting to leap into making the art. Johnny has given me a fantastic example of how to slow down and build relationships and that this is the first and most important part of making community engaged art projects.
Where do you draw inspiration from? Can you share a story about that?
I draw inspiration from artists’ work. I enjoy following an artist’s work for decades and attempting to fully understand their concerns through the work.
Once, while I was still a student, one of my teachers was having an exhibition at a big gallery. I was excited to be even tangentially related to someone with a big show. The paintings were huge, sixteen feet tall, and filled every wall. When I walked in, I was overwhelmed and driven to stillness. I heard a strange noise, a breathy groan, and searching for the source of the sound, I suddenly realized it was coming from me. I hated the paintings, bodily and completely. I still think about those paintings.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
I do not put the pressure of producing goodness in the sense of moral virtue into the world on my work. Sometimes artists are thinking and creating work around an ideal. At other times, artists are making work around a truth. Good and true do not always align. Art that is good is powerful; that also does not always align with moral goodness.
I have divided my career and work time into thirds. One third is spent on my own work, one third is spent teaching and one third of my time is supporting other artists’ work. If there is moral goodness in my work, it is in teaching and supporting other artists.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why.
1 . You will not need to know how to spell in the future.
2 . You will not run out of ideas. I have not completely internalized this realization. At the end of each project, there is a tincture of fear that the next project will not emerge. At one of these times, I wrote myself a birthday card that said, “There will be a last sculpture,” and then I wrote a book.
3 . You will need a safe place to live.
4 . You don’t need to own much stuff; think of the thrift store as your storage locker.
5 . You will meet many people along the way who are just as confused, frightened and needful as you are. Be humble. Be kind.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
My own work shies away from sweeping thoughts like this one. I assume any individual’s beliefs about what might amount to the most good for the most people can only be hubris. If I have a movement, it might be a collective working/creating environment where we work with people we don’t agree with on purpose. Lots of these already exist so my movement would ride on the existing work of others, like they all do.
The only time I feel confident I am actually cooperating is when I am doing something I don’t entirely agree with or even understand. That is when I am sure I have trusted someone else to contribute or lead. Otherwise, I may be following my own best interest.
We have been blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she just might see this.
I would love to have a meal and chat with the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities in Canada.
What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?
https://www.instagram.com/colleen_v_brown
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Colleen Brown: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became An Artist was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.