Brittney Denham
Brittney Denham is a multidisciplinary artist, born in California and raised in Wyoming. She received an MFA at The Ohio State University in 2012 and is currently Gallery Director and Assistant Professor of Photography and Printmaking at Sheridan College in Wyoming. Her work has been exhibited nationally, including most recent The Arrival: Works by Brittney Denham, at COS Gallery in Visalia California, and Everything is Different Now, Stay Home Gallery, Paris, Tennessee.
"I sometimes joke that motherhood is the last taboo in contemporary art.”
-Jori Finkle, From Artist and Mother
My art practice heavily revolves around what I encounter in life. Although, I never envisioned myself making work about motherhood. In 2018 while attending my grandmother’s funeral I found out I was pregnant. The timing of these two events felt cosmically connected. A person’s departure means another’s arrival. To say the phrase “full circle” was used emphatically is an understatement.
The Arrival examines the life altering complexities that come with motherhood. Complexities such as: the passing of traditions, constructing home, navigating all-nighters, growth charts, feeding schedules, all while trying to reconcile an identity crisis of being a mother and artist. Departing from who I was without a child, and arriving to who I am now as mother.
This suite of fiber work is made from hand dyed indigo, cyanotype, and hand quilted using sashiko thread. My art drastically changed when I had to work while having a child strapped to my body. Using natural or less toxic materials became a necessity. I use cyanotypes as a nod to Anna Atkins, the first female photographer. She used the process to catalogue her findings in nature. It was also used in architecture as blueprints, a reference point for what will be built. I use the icon of a house because I have housed a child with my body, and every day I work to give my child a home, both in the real and metaphorically. I hand stitch because it’s imperfect much like mothering, and for god sakes I’m terrified machine stitching will wake up my kid from naptime.
"I sometimes joke that motherhood is the last taboo in contemporary art.”
-Jori Finkle, From Artist and Mother
My art practice heavily revolves around what I encounter in life. Although, I never envisioned myself making work about motherhood. In 2018 while attending my grandmother’s funeral I found out I was pregnant. The timing of these two events felt cosmically connected. A person’s departure means another’s arrival. To say the phrase “full circle” was used emphatically is an understatement.
The Arrival examines the life altering complexities that come with motherhood. Complexities such as: the passing of traditions, constructing home, navigating all-nighters, growth charts, feeding schedules, all while trying to reconcile an identity crisis of being a mother and artist. Departing from who I was without a child, and arriving to who I am now as mother.
This suite of fiber work is made from hand dyed indigo, cyanotype, and hand quilted using sashiko thread. My art drastically changed when I had to work while having a child strapped to my body. Using natural or less toxic materials became a necessity. I use cyanotypes as a nod to Anna Atkins, the first female photographer. She used the process to catalogue her findings in nature. It was also used in architecture as blueprints, a reference point for what will be built. I use the icon of a house because I have housed a child with my body, and every day I work to give my child a home, both in the real and metaphorically. I hand stitch because it’s imperfect much like mothering, and for god sakes I’m terrified machine stitching will wake up my kid from naptime.
