Artist Statement
Ghost printed found objects and plants, fugitive natural inks—alive—shifting over time, the sound of the brook recounting its story, the inky line searching for answers. Through materiality and mark making, my work layers these traces and asks the viewer to immerse themselves in difficult questions about our historical, social, and ecological relationship to land. My interdisciplinary field work, research, and material explorations make visible, and deconstruct, the lineage of colonial thinking that positions us as “owners” of the land. By engaging the senses and inviting in more-than-human collaborators, I underline a simple and inherent truth: We all belong to the earth.
My mapping process is a core component of my conceptual framework. It counters the usage of maps as a military, surveying, and land-grabbing tool by engaging the five senses. I sit on the ground and, assuming synesthesia, document the sights, sounds, tastes, feelings, smells, and presences of the place. My physical body merges momentarily with the world around me. The act of being still counteracts our human-centric and capitalistic worldview; the act of noticing cultivates an ecologically intertwined future. Using a combination of installation, audio, printmaking, and drawing, my work presents this truth—we know so much, and we know so little.
Recent Press
Planting Seeds with Her Artwork
by Jeff Otterbein, Loomis Chaffee News
Bio
Brooke Toczylowski (b. 1981, Pittsfield, Massachusetts), grew up in New England and as an adult lived in Venezuela, Guatemala, New York City, and Oakland, California. She currently resides on Sicaog and Wangunk land in present-day central Connecticut. Brooke is an interdisciplinary, research-based artist who combines studio and social practice and works in drawing, painting, printmaking, performance, and installation. Brooke has been awarded two Artist Respond grants from the Connecticut Office the Arts and has participated in artist residencies at Walkaway House, Millay Arts, In Cahoots, the Kala Art Institute, and more. Among others, her work has been shown at Installation Space, Five Points Arts Center, Gallery RAG, San Francisco Friends School Gallery, and the Kala Art Institute.
Brooke has 20-plus years in education and non-profits—as a teacher, curriculum coach, facilitator, and leader. Through Noisy River Consulting she works to strategically support non-profits, schools, and governmental institutions. She is Co-Founder and the former Executive Director of Agency by Design Oakland, in Oakland, CA, which implements equity and maker-centered learning, and which grew out of collaborative research with Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. For almost ten years, Brooke worked at Oakland International High School, an alternative school serving newcomer students. Before that she worked with Youth in Arts, the largest arts organization in Marin County, with Urban Arts Partnership in New York City, and was an artist-in-residence with the Creative Action Institute in Guatemala. She holds a BA in Studio Art and American Studies from Williams College, a teaching credential in art from San Francisco State University, and is a 2025 Master of Fine Arts candidate at Clark University. Her thesis show will take place at MASS MoCA, in January, 2025.