FEBRUARY Artist
Introducing our Color Palette of the Month artist, Tracy Brown!
Artwork Title: Abuse of Power Will Fail from the Altered Histories Series
Medium: Mix Media.25″x25″x1.5″.
Year: 2023
In her piece “Abuse of Power Will Fail,” Tracy utilizes therapeutic techniques to rewrite a narrative, empowering and healing traumatic experiences. By clothing the women in Rubens’ “Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus” and imbuing them with superpowers, she reimagines them fighting back against their rapists.
Tracy Brown was born and raised outside of Detroit, Michigan. Tracy believes in the ability of art to transform and bridge minds into understanding and unity. She moved to the desert to teach and make art during the Great Recession without intentions of staying but fell in love with the slower-paced lifestyle, culture, and landscape of the desert.
Over the past 15 years, Tracy has an artist studio in downtown Tucson and has been actively showing her art in feminist exhibitions nationally and internationally. Her work has been in numerous group exhibitions across the nation and world as well as part of many publications including Juxtapoz, Huff Post, Ze.tt Germany, and Elle Italia to name a few.
Years after overcoming an eating disorder, Tracy started altering fashion magazines to reflect the darker facets of beauty and the detrimental effects of visual culture on the female psyche. Before seeking professional help, this practice, combined with her study of feminism, proved essential to her recovery. Tracy continued using art as a means to purge toxic imagery and advocate against the unfair treatment of women in society. Eventually, her exploration extended to altering historic texts and imagery of celebrated male artists, with the goal of shedding light on the underrepresentation of women throughout art history.
You can see some of Tracy’s larger-scale work on permanent display at the Artemizia Foundation’s mural labyrinth in Bisbee AZ. In the fall of 2023, she had her first Museum Gallery Solo Exhibition at The Artemizia Foundation’s Gallery 818. Following the exhibit Tracy’s work was added to the museum’s permanent collection and her work is now represented by Gallery 818. You can find her work available through Artsy, on her website, and at events throughout Tucson.
I use bright, bold, playful colors and recognizable imagery to invite viewers into a subject matter that isn’t always easy to talk about.
Tracy Brown on talking about her color palettes
