With the Peace Corps, Brookins spent time in Zaire, Africa (now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo) in 1998 where he spent two years working and living with local villagers. Shortly thereafter, Brookins landed on Tiri Tiri Island, off the coast of New Zealand, as a volunteer with a community building program where he became familiar with traditional Maori building techniques. Brookins is an artist and arts educator whose real life travels have taken him to different locations around the globe, though he has lived in Flagstaff since 1969. He's had many varying jobs in Flagstaff, not just as an artist, but with Northern Arizona University, the Museum of Northern Arizona and the Coconino Center for the Arts. The big secret is that Brookins' time machine isn't mechanical at all, but is his art-his art which serves as a vehicle to explore the different eras and places that influence his creations, a collection of which is currently at the Museum of Northern Arizona in a retrospective exhibition titled, "Jake Brookins-Dreams : Realizations : Contemplations : Fantasies." The gallery is packed with Brookins' pottery, metal works, ceramics, paintings, sketches and models and is intentionally displayed in a way that makes the room feel like an archeological vault rather than a typical art exhibit. "He was incredibly prolific," explains Alan Petersen, curator of fine arts for MNA, putting the breadth of Brookins' work into perspective. "What you see here is a very small collection of a lot of work."
A retrospective exhibit by artist Congo Kinshasa RPCV Jake Brookins recalls a lifelong exploration through time
Ancient and Imaginary
A retrospective exhibit by artist Jake Brookins recalls a lifelong exploration through time
By Lauren Clark
Published on 12/09/2010
"Travels Abroad" by Jake Brookins. Courtesy of MNA.
Time travel has long been rhapsodized by dreamers and scientists alike. It's the ages on the periphery of time that are most intriguing-ancient civilizations on uninterrupted landscapes or futuristic bodies with technology not at their fingertips but in them. The human race has only come as far as to illustrate the past, while maxing out imagination trying to guess the future. One local artist though, Jake Brookins, seems to have figured it out.
Jake Brookins has a time machine. It's built of clay, metal, wood, ink and paint. It's in several pieces with no single part looking or operating the same, but it is very simple to use. Brookins has devoted most of his life to building his time machine. It seems he prefers to use it to explore the past, but, on occasion, he'll use it to dream about the future.
Brookins is an artist and arts educator whose real life travels have taken him to different locations around the globe, though he has lived in Flagstaff since 1969. He's had many varying jobs in Flagstaff, not just as an artist, but with Northern Arizona University, the Museum of Northern Arizona and the Coconino Center for the Arts.
The big secret is that Brookins' time machine isn't mechanical at all, but is his art-his art which serves as a vehicle to explore the different eras and places that influence his creations, a collection of which is currently at the Museum of Northern Arizona in a retrospective exhibition titled, "Jake Brookins-Dreams : Realizations : Contemplations : Fantasies."
The gallery is packed with Brookins' pottery, metal works, ceramics, paintings, sketches and models and is intentionally displayed in a way that makes the room feel like an archeological vault rather than a typical art exhibit.
"He was incredibly prolific," explains Alan Petersen, curator of fine arts for MNA, putting the breadth of Brookins' work into perspective. "What you see here is a very small collection of a lot of work."
Petersen worked closely with Brookins and his wife, Jean, over the last year to select pieces for the MNA exhibit. They chose the most representative pieces from several different series of Brookins' works.
A native of Idaho, Brookins grew up absorbed with finding geologic trinkets from the earth and forgotten belongings left behind by earlier people. This fascination, married with two masters in fine arts degrees from the University of Oregon in sculpture and design, resulted in his ability to create things, mostly out of clay or metal, that resemble artifacts of Mesopotamia and Ancient Asia, despite being contemporary works of art.
"Archaeology had a huge influence on him as a kid and then as an artist," says Petersen. "There is an undercurrent of ancientness with what he does. You can see with the pots that he was very influenced by ancient ceramic styles. He's kind of talking about how people used to live but he's bringing forward in time to us."
The cluster of oversized pots on the floor appear just as old as they do useful. Some have simple stubs while others have larger rings or handles. A couple have cracks of absent space that add the appearance of age and wear. One portly pot charmingly resembles a pig.
One of the walls in the exhibit is checkered with dozens of individual ceramic and metal sculptures and smaller ceramic cups, chalices and the like. This wall mostly resembles a collection from an archeological dig, minus the dirt and eons of being buried. Brookins' pieces are also atypical or abstract.
One row features the "kiln gods," a witty lineup of the heads of creatures including one that looks like a rhinoceros/triceratops hybrid next to one that looks like a laughing bull.
Almost all of Brookins' work has at least a sprinkle of humor to it, but the most sincere display is a long spray of toppled, human-like, ceramic bones over a bed of black cinders titled "Ancestors."
"(Brookins' ideology as an artist) deals with things that create connections and create stories, and things that speak to the passage of time and generations," describes Petersen. "The bone piece is probably the most literal in that way.
"Something that does tie everything together is the idea of community and the larger human community," Petersen continues, pointing out the subtle commonality between Brookins' paintings, metal and ceramic works. "Human Kind with a capital H."
With the Peace Corps, Brookins spent time in Zaire, Africa (now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo) in 1998 where he spent two years working and living with local villagers. Shortly thereafter, Brookins landed on Tiri Tiri Island, off the coast of New Zealand, as a volunteer with a community building program where he became familiar with traditional Maori building techniques.
There is a shelf of small model shelters and fences in the exhibit that seem to reflect the handy work of other cultures. Adjacent are black ink sketches that are ambiguous but architectural.
Scattered throughout the exhibition are other various metal works, large and small. One wall features a half dozen shapes made out of thin, rusted wire that resemble fish nets or irregularly sculpted dream catchers. A ceramic, life-sized tricycle with swirly wheels titled "Moon Ride" sits perched on a pedestal, ready for takeoff.
There are also a handful of Brookins' large oil paintings in the exhibition. The paintings are playful, dreamy and refreshingly vibrant and are a deviation from his three-dimensional art. The paintings on display all revolve around traveling or destinations unlike North America.
"Travels Abroad" (from Brookins' Crayola Series) depicts boarding the bright blue "royal swazi air lines" with yellow animated arrows directing air travel on a pink air strip and in the sky, all against the back drop of a vibrant palm tree jungle and puffy white clouds. It's cheery and nostalgic of long-distance travel when it wasn't complicated or scary.
The collection of Brookins' art is lively, much like Bookins himself, despite an affliction with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, says Robert Breunig, director of MNA and friend of Jake and Jean Brookins. "He has a wonderful sense of humor, is very self-effacing and in general is just an incredible person to know," describes Breunig.
Breunig and Brookins first met in the mid-'70s when they both worked at MNA. At the time, Brookins spearheaded the Art Institute at the Museum, a once-thriving program that fostered an innovative and inspiring community for artists from all over the nation.
"I admire his work in different media," says Breunig. "And his versatility. But always his sense of humor."
Breunig reminisces about a gift Brookins gave to Breunig's daughter 30 years ago; Brookins made a miniature ceramic pig with its tongue wagging out of its mouth and gifted it to his daughter when she was in grade school. Flash forward to the night "Dreams : Realizations : Contemplations : Fantasies" opened in October. A friend approached Breunig with a similar Brookins ceramic gem.
"She handed me a small animal with its tongue hanging out and said, ‘Jake made this for my kid in the '70s," recounts Breunig, whose daughter still has the pig. "It seems Jake made funny looking animals for the kids living around Colton House at the time."
Breunig chuckles at the memory. "Of course he liked to do that kind of thing!" as if he just figured Brookins out. "We ended up adding the little animal head into the show."
Breunig also remembers a large piece of glass Brookins somehow punctured and adhered wire to so that when it hung in a window little star lights were projected. Brookins also gifted it to Breunig's daughter. "He just fixed up this slab of glass and gave it away. It was a beautiful and sweet thing."
Sadly, advanced ALS has halted Brookins' physical ability to create. "Even though his body is compromised by the disease, his mind is still active," explains Breunig. "He's experienced a couple of years of inactivity, but as an artist he hasn't quit."
While there are dozens of culturally relevant metaphors traceable for Brookins' artistic skill and expression, his devotion to community, belief in humankind, and his previous tendencies to travel to far off places, it seems most appropriate to search the archives for something as poetic as all-things-Brookins. The lyrics to Chilton Price's popular 1950s pop ballad "You Belong to Me" laments a person being far away, with the heart remaining near. The final verse reads:
"Fly the ocean in a silver plane/Watch the jungle when it's wet with rain/Just remember/'til you're home again," you belong here, Mr. Brookins.
The exhibit "Jake Brookins-Dreams : Realizations : Contemplations : Fantasies" will be on display at the Museum of Northern Arizona, 3101 N. Ft. Valley Road, through March 2011. The museum is open 9 a.m.–5 p.m. daily with admission of $4–7. For more information, call 774-5213 or visit www.musnaz.org.
