Todd Brugman Studio Gallery
46 Waltham Street, Studio #CRT500
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Artist Bio:
Todd Brugman is from the Boston area, he has been creating and thinking about the visual arts for as long as he can remember. Todd's a deep existential thinker, who’s thoughts go further than his head through his art.
He grew up in what is often referred to a normal working family. Despite everything appearing safe, Todd and the life he's experienced is nothing of the sort.
What each individual considers ‘trauma’ is often relative to the life they have lead. Todd has experienced trauma time and time again, always putting one foot in front of the other. He sites his survival of said trauma to his ability to “think in the 3rd person”, think outside the box, and then navigate these experiences via creative means, visual art.
Todd's late teens to mid 20’s were the most difficult time for him. He was coming to terms with the reality that he'd survived a traumatic youth and was struggling to cope with it's effects. Ultimately he eventually overcame his demons and has become a better person for it. Todd works hard to continue to be compassionate and to improve his relationship with the world.
Todd states that he must paint, “my focus must be happiness and contentment, and for me that is synonymous with creating artwork.” For Todd, life is “painful,” for Todd life is “beautiful,” he says these aren’t mutually exclusive for him.
Todd paints daily at his studio, The Todd Brugman Studio Gallery, at the SoWA courtyard, 46 Waltham St Boston. He states that no matter where his mind is, when his brush hits the canvas he is transported into ecstasy. He describes it as a world of the most illuminating ideas that are fleeting like a dream, ideas that are half answers without a question. This is a place of true joy and contentment. For Todd, painting is the reason.
Todd paints daily at his studio, that also functions as a gallery, The Todd Brugman Studio Gallery in the SoWA Courtyard at 46 Waltham St Boston. It is open to the public Monday through Friday 11am to 4pm, and he also does private viewings on evenings and weekends. Don't hesitate to reach out or stop by, Todd welcomes all to come by, view, and engage with him and his work.
Artist Statement:
Art is deeply personal, autobiographical, therapeutic, and my answer for everything.
My art doesn’t illustrate something, my art is that something. My paintings embody the subject which is naturally universal and otherwise ineffable.
I believe that everything experienced, every emotion, reaction, and thought passed through sentient beings, us, humans, can be described in a universal language. This language consists of all visual elements and the infinite ways these elements can be expressed.
Understanding this universal language is a constant struggle. It is a difficult language to translate but I strive to evoke the feeling of the language via my paintings.
When a viewer "feels" something, I know the work is complete. This tells me that the work is a true embodiment of the experience, and the emotion is uniquely human.
I use geometric shapes and line-work that may appear to be very straight and/or rigid. I never force a flaw, but I don't turn back if a line gets shaky, that little shake gives my work its human element, an element that not only would I not deny my work of, but one that I welcome in its natural state. Allowing this human element to exist in my work only creates a playing field where beauty may flourish.
Geometry embodies everything in the world and allows me to distill our complex universe into digestible elements. It defines thought, emotion, and sentience. I am ever so slowly, yet never quite, translating my experiences via paintings. Subjects which have no beginning and no end, just a visual answer, and the answer is always "beauty."