Joan Brink

Joan Brink, Basketry

Residence: Santa Fe, N.M.

Joan Brink was born in New Orleans Louisiana, the birthplace of her mother. Her father was a Naval aviator from Boston. Due to naval life, she spent each of her early years in a different East Coast or southern school, moving every 12 months. Because of this quasi-nomadic life, Joan's parents bought an old farmhouse in Cape Cod, to offer some summer stability for their four children. They later moved to Siasconset on Nantucket Island. She lived in France during her later adolescence, where she was introduced to her favorite subjects, art history and language. Later, Joan moved with her husband Joel to Italy, where the two began a life-long love of Italy, its people and art. This was folllowed by a move to Vancouver, British Columbia, and eventually, Santa Fe. In each locale, Joan has acutely felt the influence of the culture on her art and incorporated these influences into her basketry. Joel contributes to each basket with his woodworking and conceptual skills. As Joan says of her work: "I feel the baskets succeed when there is harmony of shape, design and symbolic content. When this subtle formal balance materializes, the woven vessels reflect the beauty to which I aspire. Although my baskets embrace tradition, they also step quietly beyond. "

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