Brandi Strickland
Who are you and what do you do?
I’m Brandi Strickland, artist and homebody from North Carolina, now living in Floyd, Virginia. I make mixed media collages.
What inspires you?
A kept home, a wild garden, the funny mockingbird that was here before us. Also: cooking, plants, flowers, herbal medicine, how the body works, folk art, women’s work, cycles, astrology, mystery.
What themes do you pursue?
My work is personal and kind of like a journal. I’d say the themes vary or are not yet clarified, but probably have something to do with navigating life with as much love and kindness and inquisitiveness as possible, being baffled and confused and sometimes disappointed, but going along anyway.
Why art?
I don’t question it too much. Everything else I’ve tried was an ill-fitting shoe.
Name some artists you would like to be compared to.
I don’t know about being compared to other artists, we’ll have to see when I’m old or dead. If I could be compared to anyone, I’d choose my grandfather, I think he was an artist. By trade he was a carpenter, a wood worker, and a farmer. By habit he liked being at home, spending time outside, doing his own thing, using his hands.
