Brooke Toczylowski

These drawings were created during the months that followed the devastating earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti,  in January, 2010. At the time I was spending a lot of time collecting fabrics that romanticize pastoral landscapes, with white figures carrying water jugs or relaxing by the stream. These patterns are often found in New England homes (including the house where I grew up), and represent a privileged ideal of “American” country life. I was interested in re-claiming and re-contextualizing these patterns. I did this by isolating the various land components and inserting full-body self-portraits. My body postures derived from images I saw in the media following the Haiti earthquake. By inserting these self-portraits into the pastoral landscapes I hoped to add emotion and truth to the frivolous pastorals. Not only am I hoping to remember and honor the victims of Haiti’s story, but I also see these drawings as a continuous representation of my fight against white privilege ideals. Next steps in this project will be to silkscreen these images onto cloth which can be used to upholster furniture or make drapes.