Amy Brener

Within my sculptures, disparate matter is compressed and congealed to produce forms that are familiar yet strange, resembling otherworldly monuments, reliquaries, fountains, cakes and garments. Largely housed under the umbrella title "Omni-Kit", these works are containment units for stuff that is useful, but disposable and overlooked–spillage from a society steeped in consumerism. Miscellanea such as flossers, cocktail forks, auto fuses, vitamins and Q-tips are recontextualized inside of seemingly devotional frameworks, demanding reverence. A cast of my deceased father's face appears frequently in my work, an artifact appropriated from his sculpture studio. Through miniaturization and repetition, it possesses both ornamental and talismanic qualities. For me, its copies hold the magic of an original that will never exist again in our reality but may persist in some other layer of time. By merging this emotionally charged imagery with everyday ephemera, I am attempting to flatten hierarchies between the sacred and mundane, and filter cosmological questions through the gritty membrane of our material present.

Amy Brener was born in Victoria, BC, Canada and is currently based in New York. She is a full time faculty member at Hamilton College. Since graduating with an MFA from Hunter College in 2010, her work has exhibited at galleries and institutions in the US, Canada, Europe and China. Highlights include Jack Barrett Gallery, MoMA PS1 and Socrates Sculpture Park in New York, the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, Galerie Pact in Paris, Reyes Projects in Detroit, Wentrup Gallery in Berlin, MacLaren Art Centre in Ontario and Riverside Art Museum in Beijing. Her work has been featured in publications such as The New York Times, Art in America, Vogue, CURA, Hyperallergic, Artnet News and The Brooklyn Rail.