The work of painter Brandi Milne has the overtly joyous and wide-eyed youthfulness found in the pages of 1950s era Wonder Books — the pure-hearted stories of ‘Dick & Jane‘ and ‘The Little Engine That Could‘ bleeds across her canvases in cherry-stained sweetness.
Milne’s art is in minor conflict with our modern sensibilities — the current audience has been taught to seek out the irony and a contrarian ethos in the everyday world. Her work, with the beyond-real cuteness and candy-deep reds, can be taken as a blood-soaked joke on the state of American suburbia. That dark edge is each of us, yet not inherent to Milne’s visions. Inside each of her paintings is a life tethered to the simple enjoyments life has to offer. Candy. Cookies. Memories. Friendship.
As an artist born and raised in Los Angeles, Milne grew up on the sunshine of Southern California, the optimism of Disneyland, and the fun of classic toys and cartoons. Her work captures the impossible spirit of a Rockwellian American childhood through the adolescent charm of the post-ironic Generation X facade.
‘Once Upon A Time, Life Was Sweeter Than We Knew’ by Brandi Milne
‘Soothe Yourself’ by Brandi Milne
‘Be Good For Goodness Sake’ by Brandi Milne
‘Little Treasures’ by Brandi Milne
‘Candy Is Forever Small’ by Brandi Milne
‘All the King’s Men’ by Brandi Milne
