Artist Statement

As a bi-racial women living in, witnessing, and experiencing America’s twisted and distorted idea of having freedom, rights, and liberty for all people always makes me question our society every day. This idea of how people are categorized as “equal,” however, having equity and equality for all is not a part of people's lives who are not white. As an artist I am interested in representing and expressing the blatant and brutal honesty of how people of color are treated, and what feelings are arising within the BIPOC community. In a BIPOC community there is this ongoing reality of racism, oppression, and discrimination that the community tends to try and overlook and stay strong due to them being people of color.

While expressing the innermost feelings a person of color can experience while living today in America through art, I enjoy capturing the feelings a human will experience versus what the human is thinking. Diving more into depth of conveying the concept of the brain versus the heart. I find it captivating to depict how we as people will have these deep thoughts, but then decide to tuck them away to put on this “brave face,” while facing the outside world.

While we have these innermost feelings, we also keep bottled up to be seen as “strong” or “put together” since there is this stigma/idealistic way to feel every day to have a positive view on life or having a good ethic. Due to there being this false image of not sharing your feelings and putting on a strong face for others has been drilled into our minds, and as asociety/community we think about those constructs of being true. When we as humans have these deep feelings, we wish to share, but then discourage ourselves from being truthful.

Brett Hooper

About the Artist

Brett-Ashley Elizabeth Hooper’s paintings collaboratively unite and question various perspectives regarding human interactions, relationship with society and self, social constructs, problems within our communities, and race/ethnicity. Creating autobiographical work embodying her own identity, she presents an interpersonal aspect of her life and experiences; communicating her personal viewpoint and what she would like for the public to know and understand.

Currently a student at Loyola University Maryland, Brett’s major is Studio Arts. Brett also is an intern for Center for Community Service + Justice (CCSJ), and an ALANA services mentor (African American, Latino, Asian, and Native American). Her internship and mentoring work direct her to be an advocate, educating, and spreading awareness of inequity and inequality to others at her university and throughout her communities.