Since Brzezinski first started to work in wood in 1988, her focus has been to present a balance between the inherent characteristics of the medium and the artist's hand in the process of creativity.  The artists explains:

The highlights of creative work and inspiration is the finding of the material, which becomes my guide and also the vocabulary for the composition.  As I work, the anomalies of nature (broken off branches, cracks, hollow areas, unusual growths and burls) are featured in the design.  And process, including cutting with chain saw, axe, and chisel, is retained as a function of surface direction or of punctuation of an area.  In my work, enough of the original trunk is maintained so that the sense of the growing tree is retained, such is my respect for the material.  My statement, contained within the primitive structure and format, would be about the growth and survival of the tree as part of Nature.

Lintel was first sculpted from the trunks of cherry trees, then cast into bronze at the Johnson Atelier Technical Institute of Sculpture, Mercerville, NJ.  The artist's innovative design of wedge-shaped columns gives strength to her piece both structurally and visually.

Brzezinski was born in Geneva, Switzerland, and later received an undergraduate degree at Wellesley College.  She has explored working with resin and has also made works with fibers and in bronze, but wood has remained her primary medium.  This artist has shown in the United States, especially in cities along the East Coast, and in Poland and Japan.

Lintel, 1993
cast bronze
128" x 177" x 28"
Courtesy of The Sculpture Foundation, Inc.
Photo: Ricardo Barros.com