Ephraim C. Brown is a conceptual, metal and assemblage artist from the Pacific

Northwest. Under the umbrella name of E.C. Brown Anomalies he utilizes a

combination rusty scrap metal, found objects, plasma cut metal parts, digital

photography and warped sensibilities to create iconic, mesmerizing works and

unusual rusty treasures. He believes that there is beauty to be found in the garbage

and treasure can be made from trash. Much of his work has underlying philosophical,

psychological and post-apocalyptic themes. Loneliness, alienation, and the darker

elements of the human condition; along with inspiration and hope in the face of

adversity are a few of the concepts and ideas he explores. His intricate, elaborate

and disturbing pieces were seen at the 2015 Burning Man festival. A few of his pieces

were censored and removed from the Tonasket City Library causing his Distorted

Icons exhibit to be excluded from 2015 Tonasket Art Walk. The themes and aesthetics

of his work often cause him to butt heads with conventional notions of beauty and

taste; along with those who feel that art should be "pretty" and "pleasing to the eye".

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His work has been featured in the Horror Zine, Wenatchee World, the Okanogan

Valley Gazette Tribune and the Statesman Examiner. He is also involved in the

Tonasket-based metal and fabrication shop Hydemade and the Acavallo Carousel

project for Burning Man and beyond; and is the Artistic Coordinator of the Okanogan

Family Faire. Brown believes in the advocacy and promotion of rural American Avant

Gard art and culture, as both can be found in the most unlikely places; especially

where it is ignored, overlooked or even undermined by small-town power-structures

and social mores. He currently lives and works in Okanogan County, Washington.

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Artist Statement

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I seek to create an eclectic mix of seductive, poignant and alchemical pieces made from

found objects and things that other people throw away; i.e. treasures from trash. The

scrapyard, the junk pile, thrift-store curiosities and burned-out circuitry set my

creativity in motion. I see beauty within the rust-coated iron I find at abandoned rural

dump sites and in the scrap bins of local machine shops. From the corroded, discarded

items of Third-World America; I attempt to mold conceptual, iconographic treasures

around surreal, mythological and esoteric themes. The incorporation of my own

photographic works and digital images adds further allure to my pieces.

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I see art as perhaps the highest form of evocation. I therefore seek not only to evoke,

manifest and bring life to strange new archetypal forms; but also to reinvigorate older

images and symbols so that they too may be seen by new eyes and examined in new

ways.

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The tools I use range from the dollar-store paint brush to the oxyacetylene torch.

Though planning and discipline form the bedrock of my work, I allow my visions the

space they need to take on a life of their own. My experience tells me that sometimes

accidents can achieve better results than careful planning; and that what I allow to

happen is often far more interesting than what I want to happen.

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The collage art of Kurt Schwitters, the surrealism of Salvador Dalí, the Assemblage art

of Michael DeMeng, the mythological beauty in the works of John William Waterhouse

along with Dada, Steampunk, Victorian-era wrought-iron, the sacred art of India and

China, Byzantine iconography, and post-Apocalyptic imagery in film are the some of my

more prominent influences.

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