On View By Appointment in April 2023:

I Found You In A Tide Pool

A solo exhibition exploring surrealistic portraiture and placement.

by Toni Brennan

I Found You In A Tide Pool aims to establish sensory based scenes that rest in environments within our memories. Particularly, these pieces capture a symbolistic style of surrealistic portraiture and showcase substantial interpersonal moments during the pandemic. How do we reflect with ourselves, our communities, and moments of pure existence? What does that look like?

In combination with a varied palette of colors to compliment these surrealistic settings, I am honored to cast these distinct moments of my community into a realm just outside of reality; a land of nostalgia. A land living and existing fortunately in moments just like a tide pool. And it is exactly in that brevity of existence, that abundance can exist so deeply in these blips of time.

Relating to memory, I've found that a tide pool exists in such abundance, it overflows. I simply hold what I can and let it thrive until the shores of time come to wash the moment away again and again. But these memories never die, they will continue to exist somewhere. Very briefly and so memorable, despite fragments that fade in the process. I hope this work calls you to linger within that somewhere.

About the Artist

Toni Brennan

Toni Brennan (they/them) is a multi-medium Portrait Artist and Creative Writer— holding a Bachelor of Liberal Arts Degree (Creative Writing, Studio Arts, Social Anthropology) from the school of Interdisciplinary Humanities at Hampshire College. With a focus on surrealism, bodily autonomy and memory work, their craft is inspired by auto-cannibalism and philosophical anthropology in how we choose to ‘consume’ the world around and within us. 

Brennan has since gone on to exhibit their first solo gallery show on April 14th, 2023 with The Bloomery Gallery & Meeting Place in Northampton, Ma. Later this year, on June 3rd, they will be hosting a co-curated exhibition of multiple creatives on display at the Northampton Center for the Arts. Their published art and literary work can be found  in multiple Issues of She/They Magazine and Illagrypho Press spanning from 2020-2021.

 Currently living on Nonotuck, Nipmuc, and Pocumtuc land, known as the city of Northampton, Toni expands their craft and visual studies as a member of the co-working studio group known as Qaleidescope operated by Survivor Arts Collective in Easthampton, Ma. On the educational side, Toni holds a position as a Creative Writing Program Developer and instructional tutor at InfinityEd and they can also be found as a Gallery Assistant with Smith College Museum of Art.