Photo by: Bazhnibah PhotographyWhen Jerry Brown received his first coloring book at three years old, he immediately drew outside the lines. Jerry is a Diné artist from Mariano Lake in the Navajo Nation.
Jerry is a 1995 graduate of the Institute of American Indian Art. Jerry has always viewed the world through the lens of abstraction. His time studying at IAIA opened a whole new world for him. Jerry says it freed him to explore and create what he wanted; not what others expected.
Jerry is committed to keeping his home base in Mariano Lake. He says his land is where he draws his energy and creativity from. This is where the emotion, color, movement, and gestures in his work come through him. When Jerry paints, he feels like he is releasing the turmoil of a tough childhood, his traditional spirituality, and his love of nature on paper and canvas. Jerry loves to create abstract works. The abstraction allows him to paint that space between his traditions and himself, “the place of family, laughter, ceremony.” Jerry says that as he creates a piece, it takes on a life of its own, daily life seeps into his work, and his life is in the many layers he puts down on the canvases.
Jerry has always viewed art as a means of expression, speaking his message to the viewer. Artists have always created work that speaks to social justice issues. Like those before him, Jerry strives to use his art to raise awareness about social justice issues and attempts to start a conversation that could bring positive change.
Jerry has several murals in Gallup, NM. He has also created art for public buildings, including Zuni Hospital, Dilkon Hospital, UNM Hospitals, Gila Regional Hospital, Eastern University: Ruidoso, Dine' College: Shiprock, NM Vital Statistics Office, McKinley County Courthouse, and Santa Fe Community College.
My work is now available through Gallery in Austin TX
Featured in the Albuquerque Journal Drawing Outside the Lines
Pieces recently purchased by the State of New Mexico and installed at the Department of Public Health, Vital Statistic Office
