Artist Bio
Bianca Brandolino (b.1991, Milwaukee WI ) is a multidisciplinary artist and designer currently honing their studio practice in Chicago, IL. In 2015, Bianca received two Bachelors of Arts degrees in Painting and Drawing, and Design and Visual Communications from Peck School of the Arts at the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee, along with a Fine Arts Minor in Art History (Focus in Feminist Art History and Chinese Painting). Their practice has diverged between studio-based works; conceptual abstract paintings and multimedia sculpture - and narrative storytelling through the mediums of comics and artist zines. Bianca prioritizes community arts development, accessibility, and inclusivity in their practice. They have hosted workshops at Milwaukee Public Library to teach teens how to create zines, and even shown their work at Clement Manor, a Milwaukee Senior Living home, in an effort to engage seniors with contemporary painting. Their paintings have been shown in galleries in the midwest such as Groovy Dog Gallery, Lucky Cat Gallery, Milwaukee Artist Resource Network, Kenilworth Studios, and most recently Purple Window Gallery.Their art zines and comics have been collected throughout the United States of America, featured at prominent shows such as Small Press Expo and most notably retained by the Library of Congress.
Artist Statement
My work is an active conversation about the reality of the present in contrast to the imagery and ideals that were prevalent in my youth regarding a scientifically advanced utopian future as depicted in popular media. Tapping into that nostalgic imagery, I am attempting to recontextualize those forms, colors, and concepts into our contemporary setting with regards to the prevalent codes of inequity, imbalance, and power pervading our culturally capitalist landscape. My work is queer at its very base, with the materials refusing to conform to rigid structure and composition. The use of hyper pigmented watercolors enables each piece to make its own decisions as to movement, and the subsequent use of manufactured and over-processed canvas provides a structure that the pigment actively resists until it settles. In this way, my paintings are both participating in their creation and actively resisting. I utilize visual language that centers around construction and destruction of form, pulling from retro manga, anime, and science fiction art ingrained in my subconscious. Playing with the concept of high versus low art, I layer manufactured materials with intention, and explore excess of explosive color, texture, and materiality against my themes of inherent destruction and socio-cultural corrosion. Within my sculptural work, I am constructing seemingly alien lifeforms and botanica that queer their own lens of creation. They exist as deities, as otherworldly forms that both invite you to engage and behold them, and resist your advances through tactile elements like spikes and thorns. I carve, stitch, embed and construct these ominous forms in a ritualistic attempt to heal myself as well, and invite viewers to gaze upon these forms and view those self-respective aspects of the work.