Brooke Finister
Curator | Researcher | Writer
Research. Documentation. Critical Writing
Exploring contemporary art through archives, exhibitions, artist practices, and public scholarship.
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Clay Has Memory: Creative Lineages from Africa
Princeton University Art Museum- exhibition review and criticism that contributes to larger research goals of evaluating the intersection of bodily autonomy in ceramics through the lens of women in the African Diaspora
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Burnished Earth: The Archive and Body through Clay
An interdisciplinary research project documenting contemporary Black women ceramicists across the African diaspora through archival research, oral history, exhibition writing, and material culture. Burnished Earth investigates how clay functions as a vessel for memory, identity, migration, and Black feminist knowledge production.
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Studio Projects
Behind-the-scenes documentation of artists' studios, creative processes, and material experimentation, highlighting the labor, research, and ideas that shape contemporary practice.
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Exhibition Writing
Critical essays, exhibition reviews, and visual analysis connecting contemporary art to broader histories, cultural memory, and public discourse.
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Publications
Published essays, commissioned writing, interviews, catalogs, and editorial features spanning museums, galleries, archives, and independent platforms.
Building the frame as I paint is my way of building in public: creating community through personal investment, intentional sourcing, inspiration, and learning from the masters and pioneers who came before me. Trial and error, revision, pivots, and starting over are all part of the creative process. Remaining true to process has carried me from a state university to graduate school in New York and now abroad, as I continue building a digital landscape rooted in accessibility.
My next chapter involves traveling to connect with artists and organizations across Africa and other geographies, decenter my Western positioning, and deepen my understanding of the diaspora and the communities that ground my archives. The diaspora continues to teach me how much I still have to learn, and that, to me, is the most exciting part of this practice: staying curious, making connections, and building something that grows beyond me.