In the Raw: The Story of Artist Kyle Browne

Kyle Browne's artwork is equal parts playful yet introspective with a dash of cheeky subversive cultural commentary. Her pieces explore the interconnectedness between humans and nature by delving into themes of wonder, consumption, and the intimate balancing of the feminine with the masculine.

I had my first encounter with the bivulva on a sweltering afternoon in June.

I was perusing the artisan tents at the local Maine Oyster Festival when a tabletop of colorful ceramic shucked oysters, arranged like a raw bar, caught my attention.

Artist Kyle Browne showcasing her work at ***Seaworthy Seductions: A Taste of Intimacy***, an incredible immersive experience.

Gentle strokes of light blues and bright pinks licked the intimate layers of a nude-colored oyster sculpture. I let my fingers run over the smooth surface of the glossy ceramic bivalve until I stopped, mid-caress and stared up at the shell's creator, Kyle Browne, standing in the background. "Oh my gosh," I said with a slight chuckle "it's a vagina oyster."

Sure enough, I realized at the center of the fleshy oyster meat was the eruption of gentle folds, reminiscent of the most intimate depths of the female anatomy.

"It's a bivulva," Kyle corrected me with an excited giggle. I stared, lost for words at the bivulva underneath my fingertips. My eyes then wandered to the raw bar's other residents – cocktail shrimp that curved into fingers, limpets with interlocking magenta tongues, all set atop glistening hand-crafted ice cubes accompanied by resin lemons and mignonette.

I needed several moments to process the anthropomorphism before me.

"Welcome to In the Raw," Kyle smiled.

**Shucked Raw, Serve Yourself.** Kyle’s participatory installation allows guests to create their own personal raw bar plate comprised of hand-drawn and sculpted seafood delicacies.

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Kyle Browne's artwork is equal parts playful yet introspective with a dash of cheeky subversive cultural commentary. Her pieces explore the interconnectedness between humans and nature by delving into themes of wonder, consumption, and the intimate balancing of the feminine with the masculine.

Her most recent collection, In the Raw, was birthed by some of the isolation Kyle felt and observed in the world during the COVID-19 pandemic. "I felt like people were detached from intimacy from others, and I wanted to explore that feeling by creating artwork that was not only playful and beautiful, but that celebrated the most sacred parts of anatomy."

Kyle's artwork is a genuine extension of herself – a vivacious, positive force that constantly seeks to explore and redefine her relationship with her community, nature, and herself. Her artistic path has ebbed and flowed through different mediums, and across the country. But it always comes back to one constant—the sea.

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Kyle Browne was literally raised by the sea. She grew up in the small fishing town of Gloucester, Massachusetts, about forty-five minutes North of Boston—on one of the oldest art colonies in America, Rocky Neck. Situated on a peninsula within Gloucester’s working harbor, Rocky Neck Art Colony is known for its geographic beauty, rich cultural history, and a spirited, supportive artist community.

"I felt like there was always such an artistic energy around me in Rocky Neck. I saw adults fully immersed in the 'artist' lifestyle. Because I was one of the only children growing up on Rocky Neck, I had a lot of formative experiences where artists would ask me to sit for portraits, or just let me sit and watch them in their studios, and play with their tools."

Kyle humorously recounted when she first realized she was an artist. She was five.

"My mom always tells this story that I came to her and told her 'mom, I want to take real art classes, not arts and crafts.'"

Living mere steps from the Atlantic Ocean, Kyle was always encouraged to play outside, and explore her coastal surroundings. Even so, she was cognizant of the fact that her younger brother, and some of her male friends, always seemed to have a bit more freedom than her. "I thought being a boy was more fun, I felt like they never had to fit into a box, and had a little bit more leeway than I did." Kyle found a way to create her own freedom on par with what she perceived the males in her life had. "I had a little sketch journal where I drew a picture of myself painting a picture, and underneath it, I had written "I really want to be a boy, but since I can't, I want to be an artist."

Kyle has always perceived creating art as a form of self-expressionism akin to freedom. She fully embraced her identity as an artist, and felt most inspired when she was fully immersed in the natural world.

Kyle cited family vacations to Crotch Island near the island of Vinalhaven in Maine as a source of inspiration to her. "It was a magical place for me. The island had no electricity, and we would always spend time outside – swimming in the ocean and watering holes, running wild on the beach. I felt there, more so, that I could find release, and connect with myself and the natural world. That playful, inquisitive relationship I had with nature has inspired so much of my art."

Kyle's parents and school teachers always encouraged her to pursue her artistic passions throughout her childhood and high school years. In 11th grade, her art teacher asked if she ever considered going to college for art, something that Kyle had never even considered. "That was a turning point for me, I realized I could make a career out of my passion."

Encouraged by her family and mentors, Kyle attended the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. During that time, she had the opportunity to hone her already-strong illustration skills, while exploring other mediums as well. "I spent some time in school initially conflicted about my career. I realized that illustration was more technical and less expressive for me. Essentially, when you work as an illustrator, you create someone else's ideas. There is certainly a lot of creativity in it, but I wanted to express my own ideas. I started experimenting with other mediums that were more free form and more intuitive."

After completing her BFA in New York, Kyle journeyed to California, where she spent the next five years exploring the Bay area, Sonoma County, and San Francisco. While in San Francisco, Kyle had the opportunity to work as an arts coordinator for preschool children at a community center. "I slowly started to integrate arts education into my career. I realized that I loved teaching art because I knew how much joy making art gave me, and I wanted to add that joy and spark into someone else's life."

Inspired by the joy she got from teaching children, Kyle moved back to the East Coast, and pursued a Graduate Degree in Community Arts and Education at Lesley University. She admitted she wasn't looking to be a classroom teacher, but "liked the accessibility of arts for the public, and the social activism that art created."

Upon completing her graduate degree, Kyle took on jobs that allowed her to combine her artistic talents with her strong commitment to community engagement and accessibility to art. She worked with several education systems on arts integration programs to assist teachers in incorporating creativity and projects into their curriculums. She currently serves as a consultant for an affordable housing organization to help curate art and design into new housing projects, based on community input.

"Everyone should have access to art," Kyle shared "it doesn't mean you have to be an artist. But art means something different to everyone, and is a way to engage with our community, yourself, and the world around you."

During this time, Kyle realized that she was simultaneously learning skills to make a business for her own art. "There are definitely some challenges to studying art," Kyle shared, "art school doesn't teach you how to run a business. When I returned to the East Coast, I sought out opportunities to network and learn how to begin thinking like an artist entrepreneur to build a profitable career out of what I loved to create."

**Surreal Whelks**. Kyle Browne's artwork is equal parts playful yet introspective with a dash of cheeky subversive cultural commentary.

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Kyle's passion into exploring the connection between art and the community came to a halt at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Devoid of the personal contact with her community, Kyle began re-exploring the outdoors in search of new connections with the world and herself.

Her current collection In the Raw was born out of the isolation and lack of intimacy that existed during the pandemic. One of Kyle's neighbors was friends with an oyster farmer near the Cape, and wanted to support his business while the majority of area restaurants were closed. The gentleman would take weekly oyster orders from his neighbors, drive down to the Cape to purchase the oysters, and then deliver them to their recipients, including Kyle.

**A bevy of bivulvas**. Kyle’s impeccable illustration skills are on display as oysters metamorphize into the delicate intimate folds of female anatomy.

"During that time, I ate a lot of oysters," Kyle chuckled. "One day, I was looking at an oyster I had shucked and admiring the colors, the layers, and folds, when I realized it kind of looked like a vagina. I thought 'do I go there? Is this too cliché?' But during that time, with so much negativity in the world, I was inspired to create something playful, exciting, and raw."

Kyle was immediately transfixed. She spent the next several days creating drawings of her intimate anthropomorphic oyster.

"I was so nervous to share these drawings because of what they represented," Kyle confessed. "I wanted to share them on social media, but I was so afraid it could have backlash for my career as an educator."

Kyle took the risk. And the response was phenomenal. She received tons of positive feedback and encouragement. Women, and men, alike shared they were captivated by the colorful swirls of the anthropomorphic bivulva and what it represented— femininity, sensuality, consumption, self-appreciation. At a time when the world was flooded with isolation, sociopolitical turmoil, and unease, Kyle's creation garnered a huge response.

Emboldened by the support she received, Kyle began experimenting with a new medium with all of the extra oyster shells she had at her home – sculpture.

"I remember the first set of bivulvas I made, I left them in the studio at night to dry. The next morning when I woke up, it was like Christmas – I was so excited to run back to the studio to see how they turned out. Honestly, this enthusiasm hasn't stopped at all."

After mastering her bivulva creation, Kyle found it only fitting to add in a cast of seafood characters to her raw bar. From licking limpets to literal finger food cocktail shrimp, Kyle's In the Raw collection is a colorful explosion of hands-on creativity. The success of her sensual raw bar artistry led to her largest exhibition to date: Seaworthy Seductions: A Taste of Intimacy, at the Spencer Lofts in Chelsea, Massachusetts. Seaworthy Seductions is a totally immersive experience where guests are encouraged to get handsy with her re-imagined mixed media installations of raw bar staples. Kyle's strong illustration skills are also on display in several gallery pieces adorning the brick walls of the Spencer Lofts. But upon closer inspection, guests will see human forms intertwining and writhing within the more obvious marine portraits.

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So what's next for Kyle Browne? Kyle wants to continue to use her work to build connections amongst members of her community. In particular, she is striving to create artwork for spaces with higher visibility for women empowerment, and custom projects for women, men, and couples. "I really enjoy creating custom bivulvas," Kyle explained, "I see this as a way for women to develop a closer connection with themselves, and celebrate their body. I enjoy putting time and energy into these pieces because it really is a sacred representative of each individual."

Kyle is also exploring turning her raw bar characters into wearable art. At the opening of her Seaworthy Seductions exhibit, Kyle's father proudly wore a colorful necklaces comprised of two intertwined licking limpets. "There are a lot of misnomers about creating "products" with art, that is tantamount to selling out," Kyle expressed, "I think creating artistic products helps you value yourself as an artist and your artistic community. It's a great way to collaborate with other businesses and other artists."

And finally, Kyle shared her top dream as an artist "Beyonce needs a custom bivulva."

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Seaworthy Seductions: A Taste of Intimacy at The Gallery at Spencer Lofts, 60 Dudley St. Chelsea, MA, runs through June 11, and is open by appointment with Kyle. Closing reception is June 4, from 2-6 pm, with an artist panel of local Chelsea artists at 4 p.m. This project is funded in part by the Chelsea Cultural Council.

Visit Kyle’s Website to check out more of her incredible art.

In the Easton Boston area? Check out Kyle’s work on display at East Boston Oyster, and grab some oysters, caviar, and wine while you’re at it.

In the Raw: The Story of Artist Kyle Browne

Kyle has always perceived creating art as a form of self-expressionism akin to freedom. She fully embraced her identity as an artist, and felt most inspired when she was fully immersed in the natural world.

"Everyone should have access to art," Kyle shared "it doesn't mean you have to be an artist. But art means something different to everyone, and is a way to engage with our community, yourself, and the world around you."

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