Sarina Brewer is a

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

-based American artist known for her

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

taxidermy Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body via mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the proc ...

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

and her role in the popularization of taxidermy-related

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic co ...

. Brewer is one of the individuals responsible for the formation of the genre of Rogue Taxidermy, a variety of

mixed media In visual art, mixed media describes artwork in which more than one medium or material has been employed. Assemblages, collages, and sculpture are three common examples of art using different media. Materials used to create mixed media art incl ...

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

. A primary directive throughout her career has been the use of ethically procured animal materials.

Early life

Brewer was born in 1970. Brewer's parents, also artists, raised her in an environment centered around wildlife and family pets. Her art arose from an interest in biology and nature. She studied at the

Minneapolis College of Art and Design The Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) is a private college specializing in the visual arts and located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. MCAD currently enrolls approximately 800 students. MCAD is one of just a few major art schools to offer ...

(MCAD), earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1993. During her formative years at MCAD she worked primarily with found objects, most of which were

mummified A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay furt ...

animal remains. Her early works were shrines to the animals they incorporated and often involved the gold leafing of animal mummies, a technique still utilized in her current body of work. Her work with the remains of animals evolved into taxidermy over the years and she is self-taught in this realm. She states her work is an extension of her childhood belief in reincarnation and that her taxidermy sculptures serve as symbolic bodies for transmigrating animal spirits. She describes the art she has created throughout her career as an hommage to the animals she uses. Brewer is a conservationist and former wildlife rehabilitator who volunteered in the biology department at the

Science Museum of Minnesota Science Museum of Minnesota is an American museum focused on topics in technology, natural history, physical science, and mathematics education. Founded in 1907 and located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit institution is staffed ...

for over a decade.

Career

To form her own movement and break off from conventional taxidermy and its traditions, Brewer and two colleagues coined the term Rogue Taxidermy. In 2004, Brewer and two fellow Minneapolis artists established The

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

Association of Rogue Taxidermists (MART), an international collective of artists who use taxidermy-related materials (both organic and synthetic) as the common thread to unite their respective styles of mixed-media sculpture. The work of Brewer and the other founders of MART dramatically changed the way taxidermy materials are used. The pioneering work of Brewer and her fellow co-founders gained worldwide attention in 2005 after they appeared on the front page of the

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art section following their inaugural gallery exhibition. The article featured Brewer's taxidermy sculpture titled ''Goth Griffin''. Positive response from other artists following the exhibition led to the formation of the collective. Public interest in the genre gave rise to an art movement. Taxidermy art (a term used interchangeably with Rogue Taxidermy) is a trend that started in Minnesota with the work of Brewer and fellow MART co-founders and now has an international following. An influx of people working within the genre has led to a taxidermy revival in recent years. Brewer maintains an ethical stance against traditional taxidermy culture. She does not kill animals for the purpose of creating art and she is noted as a trendsetter in this arena. Her work is made from recycled animal components salvaged from ethical sources such as natural deaths and

road kill Roadkill is an animal or animals that have been struck and killed by drivers of motor vehicles on highways. Wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVC) have increasingly been the topic of academic research to understand the causes, and how it can be mi ...

. She brought this policy with her when she helped construct MART. Brewer and her fellow co-founders incorporated this precept into the group's ethics charter, to which members of the collective were required to adhere. MART's "no-harm-no-waste" approach was one of the genre's founding elements and the use of ethically sourced materials has since become a tenet associated with the art movement and broadened the art form to appeal to people who previously opposed taxidermy for moral reasons. Brewer is regarded as an influential figure within the genre which has been noted for being largely female-driven, and she is acknowledged for playing a role in the shaping of it aesthetically as well as ethically. She has exhibited across the United States and has received international recognition. Her work has been included in Midwestern, West Coast, East Coast, and European venues. Among notable venues are the Los Angeles Art Show and The

Natural History Museum of Geneva The Natural History Museum of Geneva (in French: ') is a natural history museum in Geneva, Switzerland. Louis Jurine’s collections of Hymenoptera, Coleoptera, Lepidoptera and Hemiptera are held by the museum. Other displays include a ...

Selected exhibitions

*2016 ''The L.A. Art Show ( Los Angeles Art Show)'',

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, Los Angeles CA *2015 ''Myths & Legends'', Lancaster Museum of Art and History (MOAH), Lancaster CA *2006 ''The Artists of

Juxtapoz ''Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine'' (pronounced ''JUX-tah-pose'') is a magazine created in 1994 by a group of artists and art collectors including Robert Williams, Fausto Vitello, C.R. Stecyk III (a.k.a. Craig Stecyk), Greg Escalante, and Eric ...

'', Soo Visual Arts Center, Minneapolis MN *2006 ''Fabulous Sea Monsters'', :fr:Océanopolis, Brittany France *2004 ''Wunderkabinet of Ichthyological Curiosities'',

, Unabridged exhibition list available on artis
website

Notable collections

, Switzerland * :fr:Océanopolis Culture & Science Center, Brest France *

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, Nike CEO. Nike World Headquarters, Portland, Oregon * Guillermo del Toro, film producer and director. Los Angeles, California *

Richard Garriott Richard Allen Garriott de Cayeux (''né'' Garriott; born July 4, 1961) is an American video game developer, entrepreneur and private astronaut. Although both his parents were American, he maintains dual British and American citizenship by birth. ...

, astronaut and digital gaming magnate.

Britannia Manor Britannia Manor was the residence of game designer Richard Garriott. The name comes from the castle of Lord British, ruler of Britannia, the setting of the ''Ultima (series), Ultima'' computer role playing game series, which he created. Britanni ...

, Austin, Texas

References

External links