Jackie Brown

At the heart of my work is a love of materiality, a fascination with living systems, and an ongoing curiosity about what it means to be alive. This is fueled by a hands-on practice that values physical engagement with materials and embraces uncertainty as a space for discovery. Rather than planning everything in advance, I let the work evolve as I go and trust that meaning will unfold through the act of making.

Abstraction is central to my practice. It allows for a kind of ambiguity that I find deeply productive: one that invites pause, provokes curiosity, and offers space for new ways of seeing, connecting, and perceiving. While strange and imaginative, there is often a degree of the recognizable in my work, allowing me to draw parallels between systems of growth and emphasize the interplay between them.

Material plays a crucial role in this exploration. I’m drawn to raw materials like clay and plaster that inherently shift states and have limitless potential to morph and change. I often generate many individual parts and experiment with different combinations and configurations. This process of reconfiguring and constructing larger wholes from smaller, mutable components mirrors the flux and interdependence found in living systems.

Ultimately, my work is about transformation. It invites viewers to consider how we, like the world around us, are always in motion, always becoming. Sculpture allows these ideas to come alive in a physical way, offering an embodied experience that engages both the brain and the body. It’s an invitation to reimagine what we think we know and stay open to what might be possible.

Jackie Brown’s exhibitions include work at the Indianapolis Art Center in Indiana, the American Museum of Ceramic Art in California, and Atlantic Gallery in New York City. Brown’s honors include a Maine Artist Fellowship and a Lighton International Artists Exchange Program Award that supported a residency at the European Ceramic Work Center in the Netherlands. Additional residencies include the Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, the Archie Bray Foundation, and the Museum of Arts and Design. Brown teaches at Bowdoin College where she lives on a creek among the hemlock and white pines of Maine. She holds an MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University and a BA from Hamilton College.