Artist: Brandy Stark

Metal Art - 3D Mermaid

Brandy Stark moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1992, where she started her career in higher education. With degrees ranging from undergraduate to PhD in the fields of Religious Studies, Liberal Studies, Humanities, Classics, History, and Education, she often found inspiration from the her studies of the human condition. Her first endeavors into the art world produced her Metal Myth series, created from hand wrapped wire metal sculpture and upcycled items. Stark sees herself as a Neo-expressionist with the weaving and wrapping process she uses transferring her own energy into the piece. She utilizes subjects of supernatural and mythical origin to draw the past to the present while also eliciting a sense of wonder, happiness, or mystery in each work.

As she expanded her visual arts career, Stark began to work with photography. Her works have won jury acceptance locally, nationally, and internationally and have been awarded numerous prizes, including Best of Show. Her focus is to produce moments of quiet contemplation. She utilizes size and color to encourage both the importance of a single moment of time, and the majestic nature of stillness.

Stark served as an artist-in-residence for Bay Pines VA Hospital in 2004, and on the boards of The Exhibiting Society of Artists and the Suntan Art Center. She has won "People's Choice", "Best 3-D" and "Best Concept" awards for her wire works. The wire pieces have also placed 1st, 2nd and 3rd for multiple art shows, and were selected to show in the Twelve Nights of Dali in December 2016. Her photography has won multiple awards, including Are You Being Koi With Me? (Honorable Mention), Shiva Nataraja (Honorable Mention, People's Choice Award), and Peering Through A Portal (3rd place). Flamingo was juror-selected to show at Amalie Arena for the 2016 season and also won multiple awards. Its sister piece, Flamingo Knows won Honorable Mention; in 2017 it was selected for publication of the Best of Tampa Bay photography by Tampa Bay Magazine. Her work, Reflection of a Flamingo has also won multiple awards including Best of Show at Stirling Art Gallery (2017). She was chosen as a grant recipient for the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance in 2019.