MUSE
Labor of Care Art alumna’s portraits of Black women, including a new work at the Dallas Museum of Art, are drawing acclaim. Ari Brielle (’16) captures women in all facets of life. It could be a simple portrait of a woman cradling a baby fresh from a bath. Or it could be an installation about Marsha Jackson, depicting her environmental activism. Brielle’s artwork has been featured in the 2021 Texas Biennial and the Dallas Museum of Art. “I’m excited to see what that artistic journey looks like,” she says. “I want to grow deeper in my practice and continue to make work that feels successful.” Now Brielle is pursuing her Master of Fine Arts at the University of Texas at Arlington and is considering teaching. Even though she’s been successful in making art her career, she says it doesn’t entirely feel like work. “It’s both therapeutic and a release — cathartic, and there’s a lot of problem-solving during painting and thinking. What is this work about?” she says. “I don’t look at work as a bad thing. I think we need work. People need something to put their energy toward. It’s like a labor of care.”
22 north Texan
| northtexan.unt.edu | Spring 2022
Read more about how Brielle’s time at UNT transformed her art. northtexan.unt.edu/ari-brielle
