Exhibitions
HOLLIE BROWN: NET WORTH
Neue Welt / 507 Hagan St. June 6 - 28th (Reception: June 6 5:00pm - 8:00pm)
Hollie Brown
Brown’s latest work centers on states of fragility and vulnerability, especially feeding off cultural absurdities. She pulls imagery from television, a cultural echo of chaos, fear, pressure, and humor. In chronicling her own fears, shortcomings, and moments when everything feels heavy and on edge, these latest paintings and ceramics remain deeply human in their nuances, intentionally creating a balance between heavyhandedness and grace.
The use of reality television, the antithesis of genuineness, is a nod to the dramatic futility of life. Somewhat shamefully experiencing this device as a temporary lobotomy, Brown is also interested in how shared culture shapes insecurities, expectations, and inner narratives. Whether we are talking about the cast members of The Real Housewives, purveyors of youth and luxury, or survivalists stripped of everything, the figures in her paintings are fragile and sensitive, permeable to the forces surrounding them.
Textured surfaces give form to rough edges and raw emotion. Tangled strings carry the tension of raw nerves short-circuiting when circumstances become overwhelming. The net suggests both entrapment and protection, being boxed in by gender, age, or the expectations tied to both, while also symbolizing safety. Such dualities recur throughout the work.
As a form of research within her practice, these borrowed moments function as a cultural, somewhat diaristic record. In a deep observation of both personal and collective flaws and pressures, Brown seeks to understand the mess, and find humor within it.
OMG I’m dead.
On a slab of painted ceramic, jaw dropped, jaw stretched.
Fired frozen. Objects trapped.
Is it a net or is it stained glass?
Double night vision
Echoes of looking over my shoulder,
captured like an animal on a trail camera.
Long necks gracing her pond. Real as you and me.
Thoughts of flying, wings clipped. Oh.
Sparkles for the extravagance.
At twilight the glitter takes on an ominous glow.
Oh shit, did you hear that?
Ash to keep the bugs away.
Glam! Wide eyes behind rose-colored glasses.
Can you believe she said that?
Exhausted embrace. Authentically sobbing. No frills.
Big green eyes always watching.
My fear of alligators since I was a little girl.
Gorgeously slithering
Hollie Brown (b. 1988) is a multidisciplinary artist who lives and works in Abilene, TX. Brown received her BFA in Painting from Texas State University (2012) and her MFA from The University of California, Riverside (2017). From 2018-2020 she lectured on Art and Design at Texas State University and Austin Community College. She currently lectures at ACU and McMurry University, and runs the business “Little Shop of Hollies” which she founded in 2020.
Her work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions nationally including, Cluley Projects, TX; San Jacinto College, CA; Human Resources Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; Spellerberg Projects, Lockhart, TX and Icosa Gallery, Austin, TX. Brown’s work was featured in the 144th issue of New American Paintings.
