The Hare-Raising Tale of Artist Jamie Brick
by Sally Hansen
“Abandoned as an infant, Jamie Brick was taken in and raised by a pack of wild medieval rabbits. This unusual upbringing reflects in this artist’s eyes as he sculpts stone, wood and mixed media into creatures from a world that lies just left of centre.” This is how sculptor and lifecast artist Jamie Brick introduces himself on his artist’s website at www.jamiebrick.com. When I asked him where the rabbits had come from, he told me he had been thinking about Tarzan being raised by apes in the jungle, and…
When he and his wife, Annette, attended a conference on professional development for artists at Queen’s University, they found themselves in annoyed disagreement with the lecturer’s emphatic insistence on the importance of a carefully crafted, formal Artist’s Statement. It was clear that in this authority’s opinion, Jamie’s whimsical and slightly disconcerting humour was not only ill-advised; it could severely compromise his chances of commercial success. Imagine the couple’s delight when another attendee interjected that perhaps the most delightful and memorable statement she had ever read had been by an artist claiming to be raised by medieval rabbits!
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