Brianna Wilkins is a Minneapolis-born visual artist and printmaker currently based in Chicago, IL. She holds Associate’s degrees in Psychology and Fine Arts (2022 & 2024) from Normandale Community College and a BA in Fine Arts from Columbia College Chicago (2025).
At the heart of her practice Wilkins explores rewilding and organic form as psychological and emotional metaphors. Drawing from the survival mechanisms of carnivorous plants and other beautiful flowers and plants alike, she examines her trauma and relationship dynamics in pursuit of transformation and growth. Wilkins uses analog and digital collage, zines, textiles, dried botanicals, and papermaking techniques to construct layered and materially driven works that merge image, object, and narrative with the beauty of nature to tell her story. Her work has been presented in group exhibitions at Bridgeport Art Center (Chicago), published in ANARKISS UK Counterculture Zine (Vol. 9), and featured internationally through the QSL Project, a collaborative performance and mail art exchange between artists in Chicago, Spain, and Poland.
Artist Statement
My practice explores rewilding and organic form as psychological and emotional metaphors through printmaking. Drawing from the survival mechanisms of carnivorous plants and diverse ecosystems, I examine trauma, relational dynamics, and processes of transformation. I am drawn to nature’s ability to adapt, attack, protect, and regenerate, bringing its diversity to light, and at times in direct contrast, with my own emotional turmoil and human experience. Working across other mediums such as analog and digital collage, zines, textiles, dried botanicals, and papermaking, I construct layered works that merge image, material and personal narrative. My work is a form of rewilding, a return to instinct and worldbuilding using organic forms that allow for complex, self-defined transformation. In doing so, I actively am creating my own visual language shaped by vulnerability, resilience, and evolving emotional landscapes.