“A cornucopia of native wildlife. Courtney Brims is an artist who wholly celebrates personal connections to nature, especially within the Australian landscape. She goes beyond the mere surface, exposing the intimate, mysterious aspects of the hidden world that is usually relegated to the periphery. Her illustrations are reminiscent of a magical realist dream, a place where imagination takes precedence within the backdrop of the real world. We only need to look at Courtney’s work to become reconnected with our child-like mind, the one that finds beauty and playfulness in the everyday that surrounds us. Her subjects are often new sorts of creatures: cats with tails of flowers and insects as petals.
Courtney also depicts the reality of the natural cycle to the point where everything becomes physically and spiritually entwined within her work. Through this, she explores a sort of animalistic vanitas; wherein birds perch on bones and mice live in skulls. In this way, Courtney is able to simultaneously contrast the energy of peak life against the stagnation of the end. To me, Courtney embodies a very special sort of meditation within her artistry – a freedom to be curious. Her artworks can be very surprising. I challenge any reader to find the hidden motifs within her detailed drawings. Her mastery of camouflage is akin to Mother Nature’s own talent.
Ultimately, Courtney Brims is one of those rare artists who can create new perspectives, and who inspires us to look beyond and beyond until we ourselves are reborn. It’s more than a call to nature; it’s a call to becoming.” - Andrea Kovacic
Read the full interview here
