Sarina Brewer

Sarina Brewer is a Minneapolis-based American artist known for her avant-garde taxidermy sculpture and her role in the popularization of taxidermy-related contemporary art.^[1] Brewer is one of the individuals responsible for the formation of the genre of Rogue Taxidermy,^[2][3] a variety of mixed media art.^[3][4] A primary directive throughout her career has been the use of ethically procured animal materials.^[5]

Brewer was born in 1970.^[6] Brewer's parents, also artists, raised her in an environment centered around wildlife and family pets. Her art arose from an interest in biology and nature.^[7] She studied at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD), earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1993.^[8] During her formative years at MCAD, she worked primarily with found objects, most of which were mummified animal remains.^[2] Her early works were shrines to the animals they incorporated^[5] and often involved the gold leafing of animal mummies,^[9] a technique still utilized in her current body of work.^[2] Her work with the remains of animals evolved into taxidermy over the years,^[10] and she is self-taught in this realm.^[7] She states her work is an extension of her childhood belief in reincarnation and that her taxidermy sculptures serve as symbolic bodies for transmigrating animal spirits.^[11][12][13] She describes the art she has created throughout her career as an hommage to the animals she uses.^[9] Brewer is a conservationist and former wildlife rehabilitator^[9] who volunteered in the biology department at the Science Museum of Minnesota for over a decade.^[2]

To form her own movement and break off from conventional taxidermy and its traditions, Brewer and two colleagues coined the term Rogue Taxidermy.^[14] In 2004, Brewer and two fellow Minneapolis artists established The Minnesota Association of Rogue Taxidermists (MART),^[15][16] an international collective of artists who use taxidermy-related materials (both organic and synthetic)^[4] as the common thread to unite their respective styles of mixed-media sculpture.^[17] The work of Brewer and the other founders of MART dramatically changed the way taxidermy materials are used.^[1] The pioneering^[18] work of Brewer and her fellow co-founders gained worldwide attention^[18][11] in 2005 after they appeared on the front page of the New York Times art section^[19] following their inaugural gallery exhibition. The article featured Brewer's taxidermy sculpture titled Goth Griffin.^[17] Positive response from other artists following the exhibition led to the formation of the collective.^[20] Public interest in the genre gave rise to an art movement.^[1][11][20] Taxidermy art (a term used interchangeably with Rogue Taxidermy)^[11] is a trend that started in Minnesota with the work of Brewer and fellow MART co-founders^[1][11] and now has an international following.^[2][11] An influx of people working within the genre has led to a taxidermy revival in recent years.^[21]

Brewer maintains an ethical stance against traditional taxidermy culture.^[14] She does not kill animals for the purpose of creating art^[22][12] and she is noted as a trendsetter in this arena.^[23][24] Her work is made from recycled animal components^[25] salvaged from ethical sources such as natural deaths and road kill.^[12][26][27] She brought this policy with her when she helped construct MART. Brewer and her fellow co-founders incorporated this precept into the group's ethics charter, to which members of the collective were required to adhere. MART's "no-harm-no-waste" approach was one of the genre's founding elements;^[28][29] further, the use of ethically sourced materials has since become a tenet associated with the art movement,^[28] and broadened the art form to appeal to people who previously opposed taxidermy for moral reasons.^[28]

Brewer is regarded as an influential figure within the genre^[24][23] which has been noted for being largely female-driven,^[30][3] and she is acknowledged for playing a role in the shaping of it aesthetically as well as ethically.^[24][23] She has exhibited across the United States and has received international recognition.^[24][22] Her work has been included in Midwestern, West Coast, East Coast, and European venues.^[12] Among notable venues are the Los Angeles Art Show^[31] and The Natural History Museum of Geneva.^[9]

• 2016 The L.A. Art Show (Los Angeles Art Show), Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles CA
• 2015 Myths & Legends, Lancaster Museum of Art and History (MOAH), Lancaster CA
• 2006 The Artists of Juxtapoz, Soo Visual Arts Center, Minneapolis MN
• 2006 Fabulous Sea Monsters, fr:Océanopolis, Brittany France
• 2004 Wunderkabinet of Ichthyological Curiosities, Natural History Museum of Geneva,

Unabridged exhibition list available on artist website

• Natural History Museum of Geneva, Switzerland^[9]
• fr:Océanopolis Culture & Science Center, Brest France^[9]
• Mark Parker, Nike CEO. Nike World Headquarters, Portland, Oregon^[2]
• Guillermo del Toro, film producer and director. Los Angeles, California^[4]
• Richard Garriott, astronaut and digital gaming magnate. Britannia Manor, Austin, Texas

• Contemporary Art
• Rogue Taxidermy
• Polly Morgan (taxidermist)
• Angela Singer
• Lisa Black
• Kate Clark (artist)
• Mark Dion
• Julia deVille

• Artist interview
• Celebrating the Fifteenth Anniversary of Rogue Taxidermy