ARTIST STATEMENT
Each time in the studio feels like the beginning of learning how to be an artist. Working with oil pastel and linseed oil on paper, I return to simple acts of looking, drawing, and responding without knowing where the work will lead. The image develops through accumulated marks, revisions, and moments of attention. I have come to value that uncertainty. It asks me to stay present instead of reaching too quickly for resolution. Making these drawings is one way I become awake to emotion.
When I recently restarted my practice and turned toward the unfamiliar, I expected a learning curve with materials and technique. What surprised me was how much this taught me about myself. The studio has become a place to be with whatever arises - doubt, boredom, restlessness, confidence, joy - without trying to suppress or prolong any of it. These emotional currents are inseparable from the act of making, and having an awareness of them has become analogous to the drawing itself. Art practice is where observation begins.
ARTIST BIO
Daniel Brickman is a Bay Area artist whose practice is driven by a deep engagement with the materials and processes of making. After years working primarily in three dimensions, Daniel recently reformed his practice around drawing and a return to the elementals of making art. This new beginning has opened a more intimate and immediate relationship with art, allowing him to explore emotion, observation, and presence through the directness of mark-making. While his medium has changed, his work continues to reflect a careful attention to craftsmanship and the act of creating.
Brickman earned a BFA in sculpture from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and an MFA in studio art from UC Davis. He has lived and worked in Croatia, Pennsylvania, and throughout California, and his work has been exhibited regionally, nationally, and internationally. Alongside his studio practice, he has taught art at the primary, secondary, and collegiate levels and has worked in theater set fabrication, carpentry, bronze casting, and artist assistance. He is currently the art preparator at Stanford University's Department of Art & Art History.
CONTACT
studio@danielbrickman.art
Education
University of California, Davis MFA, Studio Art (2012)
Indiana University of Pennsylvania BFA, Sculpture (2007)
Exhibitions
2026 Extra/Phenomenalities, Stanford Art Gallery, Stanford, CA
2026 Future Finds, Bather’s Library, Oakland, CA
2025 Printmaking: Process and Possibility, Marin Society of Artists, San Rafael, CA
2024 In the Fold. Stanford Art Gallery. Stanford, CA
2024 Letter from the Network. Berkeley Art Center. Berkeley, CA (Juror’s Award)
2024 One More Time. Good Mother Studio. Oakland, CA
2023 Trio. Athens Institute of Contemporary Art. Athens, GA
2022 Daniel Brickman. Torrance Visitor’s Bureau in partnership with Torrance Art Museum. Torrance, CA
2022 Transmission of Unknown Origin. H Gallery + Studios. Ventura, CA
2022 Intergalactic Open. Shockboxx Gallery. Hermosa Beach, CA
2021 Hope & Possibility. Bridgette Mayer Gallery. Philadelphia, PA
2020 No Longer and Not Yet. Das Schaufenster. Seattle, WA (exhibition by Goethe Seattle)
2020 American Contemporary Craft. Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts. Lubbock, TX
2020 Outside the Box. Healdsburg Center for the Arts. Healdsburg, CA
2020 Pandemic Transformation. Sebastopol Center for the Arts. Sebastopol, CA (online exhibition).
2020 After Before. Art Music Lit Space. https://art-music-lit.space/ (online exhibition).
2020 Monochromatic Abstract. Vancouver Art Space. Portland, OR.
2019 The Devil’s Harp. Flowers Gallery. Oakland, CA
2018 Trinary. Kondos Gallery, Sacramento City College. Sacramento, CA
2018 Slice. Pence Gallery. Davis, CA
2018 Paper Trails. Morgan Papermaking Conservatory and Educational Foundation. Cleveland, OH
2016 Misfit Toy Factory. Root Division. San Francisco, CA
2016 Moonlight Pour. Artworks Foundry. Berkeley, CA
2016 Introductions 2016. Root Division. San Francisco, CA
2016 These Are That. Ramon’s Tailor. San Francisco, CA (solo)
2016 On Line. Oakwilde Sculpture Ranch. Valley Springs, CA (outdoor installation)
2015 The Cloud and the Source. Oakwilde Sculpture Ranch. Valley Springs, CA (outdoor installation)
2013 Nevada City Alchemy. Tribute Trail. Nevada City, CA (series of works along a walking trail)
2013 The Matrix of the Knot. The Temp Gallery. Sacramento, CA (solo)
2012 You Never Know When I'll Show You the Never. MFA Exhibition, Nelson Gallery. Davis, CA
2012 The New MFAs of UCSB + UC Davis. Jane Deering Gallery. Santa Barbara, CA
2010 Cartasia 2010. Biennial of Contemporary Art, Amateras Collection Exhibition. Lucca, Italy
2010 Interplay. Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. Pittsburgh, PA
2009 Chess and Moon Rocks. Labin National Museum. Labin, Croatia (solo)
2009 Our Sun's Evolution as a Bubble. VN Gallery. Zagreb, Croatia (solo)
2009 Daniel Brickman: New Work. Nano Gallery. Zagreb, Croatia (solo)
2009 Device Art 3.009. Tvornica Jedinstvo. Zagreb, Croatia
2006 28th Salon Mladih. Dom HDLU. Zagreb, Croatia