Zel Brook

"Going Down In The ER", b/w photograph (14" x 17"), 1996

Corvallis, OR - "Long ago before making art became important to me, I thought that art sprang from an inner voice that was connected somehow to universal inspiration and insight. Now I see that inspiration is personal and that I may be unable to share my experience fully through art because of the imprecise nature of visual symbolism, constraints on exhibition spaces, and the limitations rooted in viewersÕ personal histories."

Zel Brook was born in Seattle, Washington and pursued classical training in ballet and the violin. Brook served as a chairperson for the school board and as a budget analyst for the state of OregonÕs Human Resource Department. Her career path changed after the removal of a brain tumor.

After that experience, Brook discovered her talents in photography, painting and sculpture, and used artwork to document her experiences of living with a disability. BrookÕs photography is not manipulated by computer or otherwise altered by any means; her negatives include all information sufficient to make an accurate print.

Brook graduated with a BFA from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington and displayed her work at the Pacific Northwest Annual Art Competition and Exhibit in Seattle, where she received a Jurors Award. Her artwork, has been displayed in nine one-woman shows including: "The Inkwell" in Corvallis, Oregon, St. Marks Cathedral of the Northwest; and the "Children in Poverty: 83 Art Works". Brook is currently teaching photography and completing an MFA at the University of Arizona.