FLORAL SERIES

“I throw ceramics like funky modern utilitarian music” (Brennan 2014)

Brennan’s Floral series is a wealth of social and art historical critiques; the body of work contains everything from classical references to modern jabs at kitch iconography and western Art values. Each piece is unique in regards to the types of flowers depicted on the surface and their organization. Of all Brennan’s ceramic work, I would consider these to be the most quintessentially modern – emphasis is on the design of the pieces, the symbolism and reference of the imagery; there is no visual narrative, they are completely devoid of religious idealism, and, they are radically critiquing the possibilities of the medium; however, Brennan’s Floral work also possesses a few key elements to post-modern work. These ceramics blur the line between what we might see as “high” art and what we might see as “kitch”. Many of these pieces are florally decorated but with the incorporation of “non-traditional” imagery – i.e. cats, dogs, cars, and cultural icons (hello kitty, a punk band logo etc.) In this way Brennan is exploring the public tolerance for the scrambling and reworking of functional ceramics as art objects for the home.

These works also address modern consumerism but in a different way from the black and white series – the Floral series simultaneously celebrates and harshly critiques the western idealizes conception of beauty. Brennan’s use of the flowers is traditional but his use of personalized black and white icons is radically different yet still aesthetically pleasing. It is this juxtaposition, this paradoxical combination of imagery presented in a finite, tangible form – on a fired ceramic pot – that says, “Society, your ideals are outdated, but some are still worth holding onto because they will influence what we continue to do”.