The Rural We: Donald Bracken
The artist uses clay and dirt in his paintings to reflect his feeling about our shattered society.
Donald Bracken in front of "Portrait of Heaven and Earth"
Artist Donald Bracken, who lives in Cornwall, Conn., incorporates natural materials in his art. He grew up in San Francisco and went to UC Berkeley. In 1979, he and his ex-wife were visiting friends in the area, and they moved here the next year. Bracken’s work derives heavily form both the physical landscape and the archeological trace of civilization. He has received many awards, and his pieces are in numerous American and international collections.
When I was going to Berkeley it was such a weird time. I graduated in 1973, and there was the Vietnam War, demonstrations and riots. I was somewhat rebellious; I worked hard in school but not in the classroom. I did work in the studio a lot. I would get branches and leaves and spray aerosol paint over them, leaving patterns when I pulled them away.
For a while I stopped doing that technique. I did faux paintings in houses, and did some plaster and carpentry, and started doing figurative painting. I had kids, and I liked to draw them. We went to the beach a lot. People knew me for doing beach pictures.
In 1997 I was an artist in residence through the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. There were 12 artists and 9 studios all over the north tower. I was in a 10,000-square-foot space on the 91st floor. After 9/11, a lot of my work had to do with shattered reality. I started painting with dirt and clay, and realized its qualities — how it cracks on a canvas. So I started doing panels with clay, like the World Trade Center, panoramas of Manhattan, all kind of shattered looking.
Donald Bracken, "On the Edge"
I’ve been doing a series of white paintings of trees using clay. It’s sort of all fitting together perfectly in my mind. The fires in California, too, have changed our view of reality, and our vision of nature is being shattered. My paintings using wood ash are reflective of that.
Since the COVID-19 hit, I haven’t been doing a lot of art, but I have been spending a lot of time reassessing. I’ll keep on doing my thing with clay, and I’ve been thinking of writing in each piece. I had three shows coming up — at the Sharon Library, Five Points Gallery and Indian Mountain School that have been canceled.
My girlfriend and I stocked up for staying in place, and I like to forage for food. Last night we had a big salad just out of stuff we picked from the lawn. More people should do that — there’s so much that’s edible right in your back yard.
