About
Artist Statement:
I seek to create an eclectic mix of seductive, poignant and alchemical pieces made from found objects and things that other people throw away. Treasures are to be found with in the trash, beauty amid the decay and rebirth within the putrefaction.
-Images born of darkness, sprinkled with magick and served with gallows humor, gothic horror and child-like wonder.
Grimy, wondrous and disturbing forms can be found and collected from among scrapyards, the junk piles, thrift-store curiosities, animal bones, burned-out circuitry and the fractured faces of porcelain dolls. -These lucky finds are what set my creativity in motion. I see beauty within the rust-coated steel and sun-bleached animal bones that I find at abandoned rural dump sites and find aesthetic bliss within the scrap bins of local machine shops. From the corroded discarded items of Third-World America; I attempt to mold iconic treasures; often around surreal, spiritual, esoteric and macabre themes.
I see art as perhaps the highest form of evocation. I therefore seek not only to evoke, manifest and bring life to strange new archetypal forms; but also to reinvigorate older images and symbols that they too may be seen by new eyes and examined in new ways. Though planning and discipline form the bedrock of my work, I allow my visions the space they need to take on a life of their own. My experience tells me that sometimes accidents can achieve better results than careful planning; and that what I allow to happen is often far more interesting than what I want to happen.
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"A thousand imponderable phantasms
to which we must give reality." -Guillaume Apollinaire
Ephraim C. Brown / E.C. Brown Anomalies Artist Resume
Education:
Anacortes High School 1993-1996
GED 2004
Ongoing Independent Studies
Grants and Awards:
Non-Profit sponsorship by Green Okanogan, 2011
Luxembourg Art Prize Participation Certificate, 2020
Methow Arts and Icicle Creek Center for the Arts Covid Grant, 2021
Solo Exhibitions/Screenings:
Behind the Black Curtain, Tonasket Community Cultural Center, Tonasket, WA Oct. 2019
Tonasket House of Canabis, Tonasket, WA Jan.-Feb. 2019
Secrets and Rust, The Kuhler, Tonasket, WA June-Sept. 2016 (Part of the Tonasket Art Walk)
Distorted Icons, Tonasket Library, Tonasket, WA June 2015
(Censored show that ran for one day before controversial works were removed.)
North Valley Hospital, Tonasket, WA May-Oct. 2013
Salmon Creek Coffee Company, Okanogan, WA March - April 2013
Tonasket Library, Tonasket, WA Sept. 2012
Treasures in Strange Forms, Tonasket Community Cultural Center, Tonasket, WA June 2012
Zeitgeist, Mondak Heritage Center, Sidney, MT 2005
Other Shows/Exhibitions/Festivals:
Sick New World Festival, Las Vegas, May 2023 (metal art projected onto video screen during
live performance of Skinny Puppy).
Mirage Tattoo & Art Exhibition, Community Cultural Center, Tonasket, WA May, 2023
(Video Glitch Art on Display)
Filth Little Pictures (Co-Curated), Confluence Gallery, Twisp, WA Feb. 2022
Color of Words, Confluence Gallery, Twisp, WA Feb.2020
En Masse: A Showcase of Assemblage, Confluence Gallery, Twisp, WA Apr.-May 2019
25 out of North 40 (Group Exhibit), Community Cultural Center, Tonasket, WA July 2018
Metamorphic Alchemy (Group Exhibit), Community Cultural Center, Tonasket, WA Dec. 2017
Okanogan Family Faire, Tonasket, WA, Oct. 2018
Icons (Group Exhibit), Lynn Hanson Gallery, Seatle, WA, Aug. 2017
Okanogan Family Faire, Tonasket, WA, Oct. 2016
Love and Regret, Red Dragonfly Gallery, Port Townsend, WA, Dec. 2016
Mythology Exhibit, Confluence Gallery, Twisp, WA Oct - Nov 2015
Okanogan Family Faire, Tonasket, WA, Oct. 2015
Burning Man Festival, Black Rock City, NV Sept. 2015
Okanogan Family Spring Faire, Tonasket, WA May 2015
Okanogan Family Faire, Tonasket, WA, Oct. 2014
Omak Art in the Park, Omak, WA, June 2014
Tonasket Art in the Park, Tonasket, WA, Apr. 2014
Hard Art 2 (Metal, Bone, Stone and Glass) Tonasket Visitor Center, Tonasket, WA Aug-Sept 2013
Okanogan Family Faire, Tonasket, WA, Oct. 2013
Colville Art Show, Colville, WA May 2013
Hard Art, Tonasket Visitor and Business Resource Center, Tonasket, WA, Sept. 2012
Way Out Works, Tonasket Visitor and Business Resource Center, Tonasket, WA, May 2012
Recycled Art, Tonasket Community Cultural Center, Tonasket, WA, April 2012
Okanogan Family Faire, Tonasket, WA. Oct. 2011
Works on Display / Commissioned Works:
CNC metal work (custom logos) for Skinny Puppy: The Final Tour, 2023
Tonasket Tattoo Shop, (custom hanging frontage sign), 2023
Stone Crow Tattoo, Tonasket, WA, Ongoing Display, 2018
Red Dragonfly Gallery, Port Townsend, WA, Ongoing Display, 2016
Jillian G. Salon, Anacortes, WA, Ongoing Display, 2016
Wuderkrammer Curiosity Shoppe, Tacoma, WA, Ongoing Display, 2016
Trading Post, Oroville, WA, Ongoing Display, 2016
The Kuhler, Tonasket, WA, Ongoing Display, 2016
Okanogan Library, Two pieces, 2012
Aeneas Valley General Store, Tonasket, WA. Various Assemblage pieces 2012,
Metal Solar Lamp Installation, 2011
Claudia Smith, Okanogan, WA. Two Metal Solar Lamp Installations, 2011
Sonya Schaller, Omak, WA. Metal Art Installation, 2011
Okanogan Family Faire, Tonasket, WA. Metal Flower Installation, 2011
Deikel Lassila, Tonasket, WA. Assemblage Art Piece, 2011
Breadline Cafe, Omak, WA. Multiple Assemblage Pieces, 2011
One Drop Coffee Shop, Tonasket, WA. Three Assemblage Pieces, 2011
Tonasket Community Cultural Center, Tonasket, WA.
Multiple Metal and Assemblage Pieces 2011-2012
Claire Jeffko, Tonasket, WA. Assemblage Pieces, 2012
Affiliations:
Acavallo Carousel Group (mechanized art car of metal horses, fire and music)
Artistic Coordinator, Okanogan Family Faire
Okanogan County Artists, Member
Tonasket Community Cultural Center, Member
International Society of Assemblage and Collage Artists, Member
American Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers (ASCAP), Member
International High IQ Society, Member and Newsletter Contributor
Publications and Features:
CNC Metalwork featured in Creative Loafing (Tampa Bay) as part of stage
setup for Skinny Puppy: The Final Tour, Apr 12, 2023 edition.
The Art Blog, Artists in the time of Coronavirus, an ongoing virtual exhibition, Part 39, June, 2020
Wake Up Screaming, Edition #13, “Trees” Featured Artist, August, 2018
Priestess & Hierophant Press #4 'A Reaping', Featured Artist, August, 2017
Featured in Seattle Refined (in relation to the Seattle Art Car Blowout), June, 2017
Priestess & Hierophant Press #3 'A Becoming', Featured Artist, June, 2017
Gravel Magazine, Featured Multimedia Artist, February, 2017
The Horror Zine, Featrued Artist, September, 2016
Featured in Okanogan Valley Gazette Tribune, June 25, 2015
Featured in Wenatchee World, June 17, 2015
Featured Artist, Statesman Examiner, May 30, 2013
Featured Artist, Oct - Nov. 2012 Brushstrokes (Newsletter of the Okanogan County Artists)
Featured Artist, Wenatchee World, February 2, 2011
Published Works:
Standing room only: Inside the workshop of E.C. Brown Anomalies,
Empty Mirror Magazine, Feb. 2017
Related Work Experience / Professional Experience:
Metal Worker, PlasmaCAM Operator, Administrator, Mad Scientist
Hydemade, Tonasket, WA 2014-2019
Crew Member, Logistical Support, Transport, Setup and Takedown for
Acavallo Carousel (mechanized art car of metal horses, fire and music) Burning Man, 2014
Graphic Designer, Tonasket Visitor and Business Resource Center, Tonasket, WA 2012
Welder, Metal Worker, Metal Artist, Okanogan Family Faire, Tonasket, WA, 2011-2015
Graphic Design, Customer Service, Inventory / Daydream Bookshop, Okanogan, WA, 2007
Annual Book Sale Volunteer / Tonasket Library, 2006-2007 (received certificate of appreciation)
Graphic Designer, Elk River Printing - Sidney, MT, September 2005 - April 2006
Public Radio Announcer / Fundraiser, KSER Everett WA, 2004
Radio Announcer, Audio Engineer, Web Designer, KGCX 93.1, Sidney, MT 2004-2005
Information Support Specialist, Community Relations Coordinator, Critical Networking, 2004-2006
Activities Coordinator, Announcer, Performer, Hometown Gravy (Non-Profit Organization),
Seattle, WA, 2003-2004
Set Builder, Laborer, Coordinator, Performer, Bubble Rally 2003, Seattle, WA, 2003
Other Projects:
Model, Photographer, Conceptual Design, Viscous Metamorph; A collaborative photographic
project with Noni Alley, 2021
Designer, Metal Worker, Fabricator, Shatmobile: A Post-Apocolyptic Art Car
Editor, Writer, The Reprobate Tribune (local mini-zine), Tonasket, WA, 2011
Actor, Director, Producer, Melting in a Pool of You, Music Video, 2011
Actor, Director, Producer, Dance the Machiavellian, Music Video, 2010
Writer, Performer, Producer, Lügalixium, Studio Album, 2010
Writer, Performer, Producer, Compositions, Improvisations and Experiments for Solo Guitar,
Studio Album, 2008
Writer, Performer, Producer, Mind Altering Substance, Studio Album, 2007
Ephraim C. Brown is a conceptual, metal and Assemblage artist, fabricator photographer and designer from the Pacific Northwest. Under the umbrella name of E.C. Brown Anomalies, he utilizes a combination or rusty scrap metal, found objects, CNC plasma-cut components, 3D printing, digital photography and warped sensibilities to create iconic, mesmerizing and sometimes disturbing works and unusual rusty treasures. He believes that there is beauty to be found in the garbage and discarded items of consumer society and that treasures can be made from trash; and that often, it is the duty of the Artist to “Kick against the pricks” of convention and taste in order to find true purpose and meaning in the creative process. Many of his works are centered around social, philosophical, religious and environmental themes. Religious, technological, the macabre and post-apocalyptic imagery is featured prominently. De-personalization, technological enslavement, religious corruption, greed, environmental degradation and other dark aspects of the human condition play their part in these creations; as well as a bit of macabre or gallows humor and tongue-in-cheek sensibilities.
His intricate, elaborate and disturbing pieces were seen at the 2015 Burning Man festival. A few of his pieces were censored and removed from the Tonasket City Library causing his Distorted Icons exhibit to be excluded from 2015 Tonasket Art Walk. The themes and aesthetics of his work often cause him to butt heads with conventional notions of beauty and taste; along with those who feel that art should be "pretty" and "pleasing to the eye".
He and his work has been featured in the Horror Zine, Gravel Magazine, Empty Mirror, the Wenatchee World and Seattle Refined. Ephraim is also the owner of the Shatmobile: A flaming, post-apocalyptic art car which he sometimes takes fiery, swashbuckling adventures. He is also involved in the Tonasket-based metal and fabrication shop Hydemade and the Acavallo Carousel project for Burning Man and beyond; and is the Artistic Coordinator of the Okanogan Family Faire. Brown believes in the advocacy and promotion of rural American Avant Gard art and culture, as both can be found in the most unlikely places; especially where it is ignored, overlooked or even undermined by small-town power-structures and social mores. He currently lives and works out of a log cabin in the woods where this is little infrastructure in a remote area of Okanogan County, Washington.
