Best known for her work with textiles and surface design, and her immersive quilted-room installation experiences, Brooke Erin Goldstein has shown both regionally and nationally since 2003 including at the New Bedford Art Museum, the Newport Art Museum, Missouri Botanical Garden Sachs Museum, and the Lindemann Performing Arts Center, Brown University. She has curated shows for the Jamestown Arts Center (RI), Yellow Peril Gallery (formerly Providence, RI), and Hera Gallery (Wakefield, RI). She has collaboratively designed and fabricated exhibits for the Providence Children's Museum, and was commissioned to create public art for the Providence Train Station. Currently a member of RISCA’s Teaching Artist Roster, she has led many workshops and has served as a visiting artist at local grade schools. She specializes in all ages and family workshops. Goldstein also teaches anti-capitalist personal finance to adult artists from all backgrounds based on her over 20 years of experience applying anti-capitalist ideals while existing and participating in a capitalist society.

Solitary Refinement
Artist Statement

Is one really the loneliest number? All too often when we discuss loneliness we mischaracterize it as the response to being physically alone. However, research shows that emotional isolation affects us more negatively than merely physical isolation. It's ironic that connecting with people all over the world is now as easy as pushing a button, yet polling suggests we are lonelier than ever. Solitary Refinement explores my relationship with and observations about loneliness as a human epidemic rather than a fleeting emotion.

As an extrovert, the loneliness I felt during the 2020 quarantine surprised me. Even though I live with my partner I still experienced deep feelings of loneliness. He dealt very well with the lack of social obligations and time home alone. I struggled. I was terrified of getting sick or getting someone else sick, turned off by socializing over zoom and didn’t want to share fully how I was feeling, further exacerbating my isolation. Taking my own emotional inventory during that time inspired this collection of quilted paintings. I realized loneliness is not solely the absence of people around you, it's the lack of ability to connect with others in a way that makes you feel connected. I wanted to dive deeper visually into what it actually looks like when you just can’t seem to find emotional intimacy.

In my practice as a textile artist, I take advantage of our human connection with fabric and repeating patterns to engage the viewer in an emotional experience. From the moment we are born our relationship with textiles begins. Color, texture and repeating patterns not only cover us but surround us. I use textiles and surface design to fulfill my desire to create immersive, sensory-based, revelatory experiences for people of all ages and backgrounds. I focus on creating a visual representation for the complex emotions we experience on our journey through life. I believe helping us to see how we feel helps us gain a greater understanding of the human experience. My work is designed to promote empathy.

Through the use of layered patchwork, fabric painting, drawing, and quilting, Solitary Refinement gives the viewer windows into various circumstances and beliefs that lead to human loneliness. Perception plays a large role in feeling isolated, especially while under the influence of social media. It's easy to feel left out if you believe what you are seeing online is the full story or even real. Many of the pieces in Solitary Refinement tackle that problematic belief. I’m exploring what it looks like to think everyone else is doing better than you.

This show asks questions: How can you connect with people when you don’t believe you are having similar or shared experiences? Why can’t anyone else see your individual pain and suffering? What’s wrong when you can’t enjoy the good things in life? The goal of Solitary Refinement isn’t to answer these questions but to investigate them collectively with the viewer.

–Brooke Erin Goldstein