Artist Statement

Brianna’s artistic practice intersects at the junction of material-based sculpture and spatial design. Her fabrication and material efficacy, rooted in fiber art and object design, aid her in imbuing charged objects with personal narratives. She employs raw and found materials and reworks their forms to reference the body, memory, philosophy, and her identity as a Black woman. Much of her fibers and furniture design exhibit characteristics of duality and precariousness that speak to a societal need for stability and control. Brianna’s work often exhibits a sinuous quality in the imagination and construction of these objects to achieve this perceived fragility. The use of reclaimed materials creates dialogue surrounding the global and social impacts of the textile and design industry, and its effects on sustainability and labor.  In 2020, McIntyre was invited to the African American Craft Summit at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage and the artist-in-residence at Women and Their Work Gallery in Austin, Texas. McIntyre is a board member at Project Fielding, a teacher’s collective in Chicago, Illinois that teaches woodshop and power tool literacy to femme-identified and gender-variant youth and adults. McIntyre studied Political Science and International Development at the University of Maryland - College Park and holds a bachelor’s degree in Fiber and Material Studies and Designed Objects from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.