Memory has always played a significant role in Brumfield’s work. His work has focused on dislocation, having his own notions about permanence altered over previous decades. His earliest sculptures sought to give physicality to childhood memories, which over time evolved into separate current focuses.
Brumfield characterizes a series of abstracted organic pieces made of clay and glass as “memory nests.” Trying to picture what a memory might actually look like in one’s mind, he has installed numerous such sculptures—with a guerilla-like approach—under bridges and in different locales worldwide.
Brumfield is also well known for his installations and photography centered around Tchotchkes, specifically ceramic gnomes. The members of “The Blue Gnome Brigade” are placed and positioned by Brumfield “in places where humans have disrupted nature, but nature is still very much a force to be reckoned with.” In a gallery setting, viewers may find either photographic documentation of the Brigade’s travels or the Brigade itself.
