BRIANNA DE GOOIJER

BFA- PRINT MEDIA

Brianna de Gooijer works in a variety of mediums including painting, drawing, and printmaking. Her work explores themes of memory and how the way we experience memories changes as we move through life. Her work approaches memory by illustrating the feelings surrounding the event instead of the event itself, such as the vulnerability present while forming a personal identity during adolescence and early adulthood. The lush, detailed, dreamscapes invite viewers to set aside the need to define unclear memories and instead lean into a more emotional experience of the past. 

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Artist Statement

My work explores the way I interact with memory; specifically, memories associated with versions of myself that I no longer identify with. Each piece is made in response to specific events in my life and they become a way of re-experiencing the memory without needing to label it as being distinctly positive or negative. By exploring memory in this way, I rediscover parts of my past without judgement on the various selves I’ve been. This approach frees me to explore my memories outside of the confines of what physically occurred and lean into the emotional experience of the event.

Through this perspective I Explore how I can manipulate my experience of memory through the physical process of artmaking. A technique central to this is letterpress; by spending the time hand setting old pieces of journals and poetry I am forced to sit with those experiences that I otherwise pushed out of my mind. This became the series of works I refer to as Meditations. Those works evolved into new works including Revisiting//Reinterpreting (2018) in which I write poems in response to old film photographs about how my experience of the memory has changed between the photo being taken and now. Like letterpress, intaglio holds similar qualities of meditation that facilitates my practice. Aesthetically, intaglio provides freedom to explore but it is very slow and forces me to spend many quiet hours with the subject matter facilitating introspection.

In my intaglio works, the intricate linework depict animal and human figures within lush botanical landscapes. Using minimal reference photos paired with old journals from my personal life, I construct these landscapes out of the flow of thoughts and feelings that arise when I allow myself to delve back into memory. Influenced by the aesthetics of surrealism and memory, I use symbolism to help the viewer interpret the work. The works explore the story not only of what happened, but also of old fears, hopes, and beliefs that were contemporary to the time of the memory being investigated.  The work is a bridge to connect who I am now to a distant yet intimate version of myself. By revisiting memories, I engage in a conversation with myself about my experiences as a way to grow in the here and now.

Printed on a variety of semi-transparent washi papers, these prints bring to life the dreamscapes that make up my personal narrative. The animals, such as the Raven and the Hare, which appear often, are symbolic of qualities I choose to associate myself with as I explore aspects of my personal identity. I use animal symbolism as opposed to traditional self-portraiture because I prefer to keep many parts of the work’s narrative a secret: the purpose of my work is not to air my personal traumas. Instead, they are a place for me to explore a growing relationship with my own experiences. Using narrative that invites the viewer in without putting myself completely on display.