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Artist
and naturalist Sarina Brewer recycles the natural into the unnatural,
breathing new life into the animals she resurrects. While earning
her BFA in 1992 from the Minneapolis
College of Art and Design, she worked predominantly with oil paint
and found objects, most of which were animal remains. Early works
were shrines to the animals they incorporated, creating final resting
places for them. Preparing animal remains for use in her sculpture
and abstract paintings slowly evolved into taxidermy over the course
of a decade. Sarina is now a licensed taxidermist as well as a prolific
artist. She volunteers her skills in the biology department of the
Science Museum
of Minnesota and is also engaged in various natural
history related projects for other educational institutions and museums.
She is a strong proponent of wildlife conservation who also participates
in wildlife rescue and rehabilitation.
None of the animals used in Sarina’s work were killed for the
purpose of using them in her art. All animal components are recycled.
She utilizes salvaged roadkill and discarded livestock, as well as
the many animals that are donated to her. Donated animals are often
casualties of the pet trade, destroyed nuisance animals and pests,
or animals that died of natural causes. A very strict "waste
not, want not" policy is adhered to in her studio - virtually
every part of the animal is recycled in some manner.
This
artist has a deep respect and appreciation for animals and the natural
world. She is fascinated with the circle of life and intrigued with
how different cultures honor their dead and deal with death. Immortalizing
loved ones (be they animals or humans ) by preserving their remains
or creating sentimental remembrances out of their body parts does
not sit well with the majority of western society and is unfathomable
to the average thinker. Yet such practices have been the norm in many
cultures throughout history and still are. Undoubtedly the average
American thinks such abhorrent practices are only carried out by "savages"
in primitive cultures, yet they even exist in this day and age in
the "civilized" world, a well known example being the preserved
remains of saints on display in Catholic Churches around the world.
Point being, reverence is relative. This artist deals with death,
in what is considered by most, an unconventional manner. She does
not view a dead animal as disgusting or offensive. She feels that
all creatures exhibit beauty in death, as well as in life, and pays
homage to them by reincarnating them in her works of art.
Sarina
is a self-proclaimed science nerd who incorporates her past formal
art education with her passion for biology and the bizarre. Her childhood
preoccupation with cryptozoology and anomalies of nature manifest
themselves in her outlandish reveries of fur and flesh and every peculiar
artifact she creates. These influences, combined with a slightly dark
sense of humor, have carved out an unusual niche for Sarina in the
art world. She specializes in creating fictional composite animals
and sideshow gaffs for discerning collectors and the many connoisseurs
of the curious around the world. We now invite you to peruse the culmination
of nearly three decades of the study of art and the natural sciences
in her eccentric works.
"I call it art, you can call it whatever you want."
www.MySpace.com/Sarina_Brewer
THE FORMATIVE YEARS: 1987-1997

Ideals |

Life |

Property |

Untitled Wing |

A Farewell |

Ascension |

Homage to Boo-Boo |

House Mouse Dreams |

Gilded Squirrel |

Sleeping Squirrel |

Ruddy Roadkill |

Corroded Kitten |
PRESS
NATIONAL:
The New York Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The New York Press, The Sun, The Weekly World News, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Minneapolis City Pages, Fortune Small Business magazine, Maxim magazine, Juxtapoz magazine, BUST magazine, Garage magazine, and Mpls/St.Paul magazine.
INTERNATIONAL:
The Dutch Telegraaf,(Netherlands), El Correo Espanol (Spain), Bizarre magazine (England), Front magazine (England), Last magazine (Australia),Choc magazine (France),P-Magazine (Belgium),FHM magazine (Lithuania), ZONE 5300 (Netherlands)
Interviewed for Minnesota Public Radio "State of the Arts"
EXHIBITIONS
Rogue Taxidermy Inaugural
Creative Electric Gallery, Minneapolis
MN
October 2004
Wunderkabinet of Ichthyological
Curiosities
Geneva Museum of Natural History, Switzerland
November 2004
Man and Beast; Part II
of Regional Collections
Emily Davis Gallery, Akron OH
April 2005
Art-a-Whirl
California Arts Building, Minneapolis MN
May 2005
Alive on the Inside;
The Lure and Lore
of the Sideshow
Redux Contemporary Art Center, Charleston
SC May 2005
The Minnesota Association
of Rogue Taxidermists; The Iowa Invitational
Mills Gallery, Pella IA
November 2005
The Artists of Juxtapoz
Soo Visual Arts Center, Minneapolis
MN
March 2006
Fabulous Sea Monsters
Oceanopolis Cultural Sea Centre,
France
April 2006
Cryptozoology: Out of
Time Out of Place
Bates College Museum of Art, Lewiston
ME
June 2006
Alive on the Inside; Encore of
the Lure and Lore of the Sideshow
Purdue University Galleries, West Lafayette
IN
August 2006
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