Upon return to the Door Peninsula, where her family’s roots stretch
back to Ellison Bay in the 1850s, Brey began in earnest to establish herself
as an up-and-coming artist. Over time she garnered a reputation as a talented
jewelry designer, proving her ability to bring together her passions for
both natural materials and fashion – something that is evident in
her pieces, which are marked by subtle juxtapositions of colors and textures
that flow through like little landscapes.
After a series of deeply life-altering personal and career changes, Brey
is now headed in the direction she feels she is intended to go. She says,
“If I had a message, it would be for people to find their truth
and live it.” The search for her truth led Brey to begin working
with natural materials and to spend time in nature reflecting and creating.
This search led her to broaden her scope into environmental sculpture,
and she has since developed and implemented over 80 public projects and
exhibitions. One of the first series of sculptures that Brey embarked
upon is called “Entropy,” created in 2004. The series of sculptures
is comprised of four pieces, one for each season of the year, and depicts
women’s dresses floating against a flat plane. Brey describes the
series in terms of emotion, each being a self-portrait delving into her
feelings at the time of creation.
To create the pieces, Brey used materials found in nature during each
particular season. “Spring,” for example, features brilliant
green moss and freshly budded chive flowers (chosen in part for their
ability to retain color as they dry), with the dress’s bodice made
of bundled and wound barbed wire. “Summer” flows from “Spring”
with a smoothly draping skirt that belies the fact it is formed of bark.
“Fall,” as one might expect, brings together fallen leaves,
branches, roots and wire mesh to create an image. And “Winter,”
meanwhile, incorporates materials from the earlier seasons – as
well as tree roots, deer hide, bark and wire arranged in uncomfortable
angles – to offer a darker and more twisted representation than
the others.
Her fusion of form and materials would seem to demand some analysis from
a feminist perspective, but in Brey’s hands the driving force is
strictly emotional; it is guided completely by an instinctive sense of
materials, rather than a model of the final look. “Nature is not
a material you can manipulate like fabric,” says Brey, “so
I am open to what the materials tell me.” Ultimately, the process
is left open and evolving, and it shows throughout her work.
The series was a landmark for Brey. Through the process of reflection
and creation, she discovered what really drives her passion for art, and
now works to bring those opportunities for revelation to other groups
within the community. She has completed several artist residency programs,
including one with Kewaunee High School. There, she recognized the need
for students to bring their art into the public frame of reference, since
they had no real outlet for exhibition of their work, and helped them
create a public installation at Peninsula State Park, near the entrance
to American Folklore Theatre.
Brey worked with the students on all aspects of developing the project,
leaving many of the decisions up to them. They came up with the concept
of a “flaming cone pod,” called “Forest Narratives,”
comprised of three sculptures resembling dancing flames created from interwoven
branches and vines. With Brey’s encouragement and direction, they
spent time gathering materials, strategizing ways to use the different
skills in the group, and working both within the basic space constraints
of the project’s location and with the essence of the setting in
mind. Of the installation, Brey notes, “These types of projects
are a total leap of faith. You can’t plan this, because no one’s
ever made flaming cone pods before!”
Working with community groups has really brought the larger picture of
Brey’s calling into view. “For me, being an artist is about
doing work that contributes positively to our society through activities
that take place locally, at a grass-roots level,” says Brey. In
other words, it’s not just about her own artwork, but it’s
how artwork can help deliver meaning to that which it encounters.
Brey is a creative and talented figure in the peninsula’s arts community.
She served as the Gallery Director at the Peninsula Art School in Fish
Creek for the past six years, leaving recently to pursue a degree in community
arts and expressive arts therapy. She has enrolled in a distance learning
program that encourages her to keep her community roots and continue to
develop her connections, while personally and academically evolving to
bring more experience to the development of future community projects.
She is also the grant administrator for the Peninsula Arts Association,
is the recipient of numerous grant awards, and a recipient of the Fred
Alley Visionary Award for community arts achievements and excellence in
the arts. In all, it seems that Brey’s success in living her mission
to the fullest is proof that the leap of faith was well worth it.
