Meet Brooke Anderson of The Urban Creator

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brooke Anderson.

Brooke, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I have been doing art all my life from painting to crochet, cartoon characters… you name it, I have always had my hands in art. I started off doing street style and portrait art in a more serious light in 2003. It has evolved into where I am now. I would say there are two styles that make up my artwork right now. Character deconstruction and data visualization. I am a data analyst by day and have decided to blend my two passions together. I try to incorporate data and depict statistics in my art. I keep stockpiles and spreadsheets of data that I have looked up. I make sure all the stats I look up are valid and have a reputable source. I incorporate a lot of math within my pieces whether it’s spacing on a canvas with circle diameters or surface area there are always hidden equations in my work.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I wouldn’t say art is ever easy for anyone. There are many ups and downs with all success. I think the biggest point of contention is finding who you are as an artist and doing it for the right reasons. For me, I create because I know I can put a smile on someone’s face. If I can for a split second stop and make someone think about my artwork, that is a success for me. I think staying true to myself is the most important for me. Which is not necessarily a challenge but its a challenge to remain your most authentic self as an artist and I try to do that.

We’d love to hear more about your art.
I am more or less known for the work I do that represents mental health. I want to raise the conversation. If you think about a small rock dropping into a pool that creates a tiny wave but then that tiny wave stretches all the way throughout the pool and travels as far as it can until it hits the edge. I want my artwork to be that wave. It doesn’t have to be big, but the changes I make can be mighty and be a small wave that travels.

What I am most known for is my work with suicide prevention. In my statistics research, I found that 130 suicides happen a day in the United States. I depicted that on a painting with 130 red dots in the background of my piece and put a smiley face over it. It represents that we put on a mask while mental health is in the background. I like to incorporate data that represents cultural oppression or feelings. Not all data is serious though and I like to have fun with it.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I don’t think it has been anything that I have done, but I am proud of the support I have from the community. It’s all I can ask for.

Contact Info:

• Website: theurbancreator.com
• Email: Hello@theurbancreator.com
• Instagram: @brooklynnbk

Image Credit:
@rainwaters.ink first photo Logan brewer second photo

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