BIOGRAPHY

SCOTT BRUZA GREW UP IN DETROIT, MICHIGAN AND BEGAN MAKING ART UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF HIS MOTHER WHO WAS AN ART TEACHER. HE STUDIED ART UNDER THE SCULPTOR JIM CLOVER, PAINTER DALEENE MENNING, ANIMATOR DEANNA MORSE AND PHOTOGRAPHER DAVID RATHBUN AT GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY IN GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN. THESE ARTISTS INFLUENCED HIS SENSE OF SHAPE, DESIGN, TECHNIQUE AND DISCIPLINE AS WELL AS HIS STYLE OF GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION, COMPOSITION AND USE OF SATURATED COLOR. HE COMPLETED THE BFA PROGRAM IN SCULPTURE IN 1986.

HE MOVED TO LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA IN 1988 AND LIVED AS AN INDEPENDENT ARTIST MAKING AND SELLING ART BY COMMISSION. HE BEGAN DECORATING AND DRESSING SETS FOR THE FILM AND TELEVISION INDUSTRY. HIS ART HAS BEEN SEEN IN FILMS AND TELEVISION SHOWS SUCH AS “FRIENDS”. HE HAS EXHIBITED HIS WORK SOLO AND IN GROUP SHOWS.

BRUZA IS A CONTEMPORARY OF ARTISTS JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT, KIETH HARRING AND KENNY SHARFF. LIKE THEM HE WAS INFLUENCED BY THE GRAPHIC DESIGN OF THE 60’S AND 70’S - COMICS, ANIMATION, ADVERTISING ILLUSTRATION, MUSIC VIDEOS, POP ART AND THE FLUORESCENT PLASTICINE COLORS THEY USED. ALL OF THIS IS REFLECTED IN HIS WORK IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER AS WELL AS AN APPRECIATION OF IMPRESSIONIST TEXTURE PAINTING AND CUBIST ABSTRACTION.

BRUZA’S PAINTINGS CREATE DEEP SPACE ON A TWO DIMENSIONAL SURFACE WHICH DRAWS THE VIEWER PAST THE FRAME AND INTO THE PICTURE. HIS DRAWINGS CAPTURE LIGHT AND RADIATES IT FROM THE INTERIOR OF THE PICTURE WHICH SEEMS TO MAKE THEM GLOW. HIS SCULPTURES COVER A WIDE VARIETY OF MATERIALS AND STYLES - PAINTED WOOD, RESIN ON PAPER, CLAY AND FOUND OBJECTS AS WELL AS CONCEPTUAL STUDIES FOR LARGE WELDED STEEL SCULPTURE. HIS PHOTOGRAPHY CAPTURES THE BEAUTY AND UNIQUENESS OF LIFE ON EARTH, MAN MADE AND NATURAL. HIS IMAGES PRESENT LIFE IN WAYS THAT BRING ATTENTION TO THE ELEGANCE OF THE ORDINARY THAT IS OFTEN OVERLOOKED. HE IS A MASTER OF THE PANORAMIC LANDSCAPE CREATING BEAUTIFUL PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE WORLD AROUND US, AGAIN BOTH NATURAL AND MAN MADE BRINGING NEW APPRECIATION TO THE PLANET WE LIVE ON.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

MY ART IS A SELF PORTRAIT OF ALL THE THINGS I'VE BEEN EXPOSED TO IN MY LIFE, REPRODUCED AND COMBINED IN UNIQUE WAYS THAT REFLECT WHO I AM AND HOW I SEE THE WORLD. EVERYTHING IS FAIR GAME, USED IN COMBINATION WITH ANYTHING THAT PROVIDES A QUIRKY CONTRAST OR COMMENT ON LIFE AND HUMANKIND

MY MOTHER WAS AN ARTIST AND A TEACHER. MY FATHER WAS A MUSICIAN AND AN ENGINEER. THEY ENCOURAGED MY ARTISTIC GROWTH SINCE EARLY CHILDHOOD AND PROMOTED CREATIVITY THROUGH DIVERSITY SO IT IS NATURAL THAT I MAKE ART IN MANY WAYS: SCULPTURE, PHOTOGRAPHY, PAINTING AND DRAWING.

THE QUALITY OF MY WORK IS VERY IMPORTANT, WITHOUT QUALITY OF CRAFT CREATION SEEMS POINTLESS. I COMPOSE USING MANY DIFFERENT STYLES IN ORDER TO GIVE THE MIND'S EYE MAXIMUM VIEWING PLEASURE. I BELIEVE THE JUXTAPOSITION OF CONTENT, STYLES AND COMPOSITIONS ALLOWS FOR NEW WAYS OF LOOKING AT THINGS. SOMETIMES GOOD AND SOMETIMES NOT BUT HOPEFULLY ALWAYS FRESH.

IMAGINE HOW A PRE-HISTORIC CAVE PERSON WOULD PERCEIVE AND DOCUMENT THIS LIFE IF THEY'D JUST STEPPED OUT OF THE ICE AGE. THIS IS HOW I EXPRESS MY VIEWS, IN MODERN DAY HIEROGLYPHS.

AFTER ALL, IS IT SO FAR FETCHED TO THINK THAT THE ART OF TODAY COULD BE THE CAVE DRAWINGS OF TOMORROW?