The studio of Brett Tomás Gonzalez
A practice of
possibility.
Painting, mixed media, and socially engaged projects exploring perception, presence, and the worlds we make possible.
Selected work
View all work ↗
Socially engaged practice · Installation
Stacks
Books · Biography · Time · Participation
Who is missing from the room?
A developing participatory installation that makes the lives and time of incarcerated people tangible through books.
Each book is an invitation to encounter someone who doesn’t happen to be in the room. A page for each day makes the length of incarceration something a visitor can hold.
Discuss the project ↗The person
Individual stories, loved ones, and self-expression.
The time
One page for each day of a sentence.
The encounter
An invitation to read, handle, and stay with a life.
About the artist
Art as a way of opening possibility.
In the basement of a federal prison, I found art—a source of joy and redemption. That discovery continues to shape my practice.
Read my story ↗Sustain the practice
Make room for what comes next.
Collecting a work or supporting the studio helps sustain materials, experimentation, and continued study.