**Omni-Kit Altar**, 2017, Courtesy of the artist and Jack Barrett, New York

A comb, a fern, some false lashes, and a butterfly are all objects that some of us might easily pass by on a regular basis, and never witness a connection between them. New York based sculptor and conceptual artist Amy Brener embeds all of these every-day figures into her profound pieces, whether they be tremendous, delicate Flexi-Shields suspended in a gallery, to a more industrial Fort-Dress inhabiting a park.

**Pinnacle**, 2020, Courtesy of the artist and Jack Barrett, New York

Brener’s works act as a profound meditation on the fragile distinction between the personal and impersonal, repurposing items which otherwise might have spend the next century in a landfill, and etching them into monuments – Brener herself referring to them as imagined time capsules. Bright plastics, vibrant flowers, and a harmonious dance between pastel and saturated base colors sing a song of the immortality of art. Features such as face molds, garment-like silhouettes, and nods to ancient architectures add another layer of familiarity, further subverted by Brener’s artistic desires.

**Consolarium,** Solo exhibition at Jack Barrett, New York, 2019

A true encapsulation of a world post single-use plastics, Brener’s pieces are an accurate cross-section of a modern landscape, elevated as a celebration of the things we most take for granted, and never letting an ounce of inspiration go to waste.

**Omni-Kit Eostra**, 2019, Courtesy of the artist and Jack Barrett, New York

Hey Amy! How are you doing? Been up to anything exciting lately?

Hi there! I just opened my second solo show at Jack Barrett in NYC, which definitely snapped me out of the COVID doldrums.

**Flexi-Shield Eostra**, 2019, Courtesy of the artist and Jack Barrett, New York

First of all, congratulations! I have to say that your work is so captivating – I love how you blend the use of organic materials (such as leaves and flowers) with inorganic plastics. What impact does this contrast create within these pieces, do you think, and how do you go about sourcing all of these elements?

Liquid resins and silicones are good materials to use for encapsulating and preserving stuff for the future. Along with organic matter, I embed many other ephemeral objects in my sculptures, such as tooth-flossers, auto-fuses, cocktail forks, vitamins, Q-tips and bits of hardware. These are everyday single-use items that serve a variety of functions, only to be quickly discarded. The flowers and ferns provide decoration to help elevate the status of the knick-knacks around them. All of these overlooked things are compartmentalized, sealed and made permanent. This comes from an urge to treasure the minutiae of our time in the same way we do that of the ancient world.

**Pinnacles**, Solo exhibition at Jack Barrett, New York, 2022

It makes me think of modern-day fossilization in a way. I’m a huge fan of your use of bright colors, but also the way you incorporate garment silhouettes into your works! The Flexi-Shields immediately come to mind as pieces that showcase exemplary designs. What do you think inspired you to create these kinds of pieces?

I originally conceived of them as armor or protective skins. The silhouettes are composed of very pedestrian things like plastic packaging, take-out trays and car mats that I arrange into garment-like formations. The overall shape of the works has become increasingly dictated by the objects that I wish to embed inside. The most recent Flexi-Shields feature dense and intricate patterning of embedded goods. I see these items as being potentially useful for the imagined wearer of the garment, in offering grooming and building capabilities and providing sustenance.

**Flexi-Shield Harbinger** (rose), 2021, Courtesy of the artist and Jack Barrett, New York

There’s definitely this element of strength, and also delicacy, that I feel in these pieces. I saw that you studied the arts and sculpting for 5 years! What do you feel was the catalyst for creating your own, unique style? Do you feel as though your studies were an essential tool-kit for building your own pieces, or more of a loose outline? I can imagine it’s probably somewhere in the middle.

I’m a professor now, so I’m a little biased, but graduate school at Hunter College was one of the best experiences I’ve had as an artist. There was a ton of freedom in my studies; it was more about the relationships formed along the way and the productive conversations with my professors and peers. The critique process is invaluable and, sadly, something that doesn’t occur much outside of the school setting. As for developing my own style, that’s something that has evolved over many years and is ongoing. I recognize traces of my current work all the way back in my earliest sculptural fumblings from college.

That’s definitely one of the most exciting elements of studying – going to a place where people with similar interests and pursuits congregate and learn from each other. The Omni-Kit series is one of my personal favorites of yours – I just love the colors, but then also some repeated motifs such as the facial casting, grand fans, and spherical embellishments. How do you feel that all of these components reflect your own personal message that you hope to communicate through your works?

With all of these motifs, I’m aiming to create forms that are familiar yet strange, resembling otherworldly monuments, furniture and architectural ornaments. I build seemingly devotional frameworks to demand reverence for the overlooked miscellanea housed inside of them. This is heightened by the inclusion of a cast of my deceased father’s face, that is obsessively repeated in miniature and full-size. In combining this deeply personal item with meaningless do-dads, I am attempting to flatten hierarchies between the sacred and mundane.

I think that really shines through in all of the pieces – especially considering the fact that even these meaningless do-dads are intrinsically linked to some of our most important and personal memories. Thank you so much for answering these! You’re such an incredibly accomplished artist with so many solo and group exhibitions under your belt. As a final question, if you could exhibit anywhere in the world – whether it be a museum, a park, a city, the ocean, or even some new orbital art museum I’m sure we’ll get to visit in the near future – where would you choose? What’s one environment you would love to see your pieces interact with?

Thank you for the opportunity! And for your kind words about my work.

A while back, I was contacted by a curator working for a museum in Svalbard, Norway. Though nothing came of it, I found myself fantasizing about exhibiting my sculptures in the desolate terrain around the Svalbard Seed Vault, and seeing my imaginary time capsules in the context of a real one.