Phyllis Brody
Cleveland Heights, OH
My work emerges from a wish to explore, understand and express creativity and imagination through a materials oriented, problem-solving, intuitive process .
Message
Life-long and self taught experimenter, learner and maker of artist books, dimensional story quilts , abstract embroidery and crochet, drawing, painting, collage and assemblage
Born in Brooklyn, New York
BA in Psychology from Brooklyn College
MSW from School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
Career:
-Social worker
-Artist -in-residence in Cleveland Heights School District
-One of the founders, concept developers and past President of the Cleveland Children’s Museum
-Consulted and taught craft, textile and creativity workshops for children and adults in schools, museums, retail and other settings
-Co-founded Creativity for Kids, the company which pioneered the creative activity product category in the Toy and Craft industries.
-Developed and marketed hundreds of imaginative and innovative award- winning products focused on stimulating and encouraging children’s natural creativity.
-After a merger with Faber-Castell, worked with global teams to expand the Creativity for Kids concept into the Art, Education and Adult Craft markets, including, a campaign to raise awareness of the importance of creativity in children’s development.
-Currently living my lifetime dream of making art every day
Exhibitions:
Solo, Invitational and Group shows at the following galleries:
Artists of the Western Reserve, BayArts. Beachwood Community Center Art Gallery, Beck Center for the Arts, Cain Park Gallery, Cleveland Playhouse, Cleveland State, Cleveland Museum of Art May Show, JCC Gallery, Loganberry Books Annex Gallery, Mansfield Art Center, Morgan Conservatory, NewNow 2023, Notre Dame, Pinwheel, Ursuline College
Statement
Artist Statement
I have always been fascinated by the creative process and the mysterious workings of the mind. Imagination, unconscious forces, dreams, memory, and a sense of humor all inform my work. I am equally drawn to questions of space and time, and to our place as humans within the vastness of the universe. These themes have both occupied and preoccupied me through different phases of my life and creative journey.
Travel and exposure to diverse cultures have shaped my perspective, as have the ideas of Freud and the works of artists like Picasso, Kandinsky, de Kooning, Cornell, and the surrealists. I’m especially drawn to forgotten, aged, and discarded objects—artifacts that link us to the past in ways that feel deeply alive and personally formative. Through color, texture, pattern, imagery, and found or original text, I create layered stories that invite the viewer in while intentionally leaving space for personal interpretation.
When asked, “What kind of artist are you?”—I can only say that my work spans over six decades and defies easy categorization. I’ve worked across many media: textiles and fiber, collage and assemblage, book art, encaustic and mixed media, and more recently, drawing and painting. Curiosity about materials and process drives me. I often begin with the question: What happens if…? From there, I follow the thread of intuition, allowing both serendipity and intention to guide me.
Making art is, for me, a form of problem-solving, a state of flow, a kind of play, a way of knowing—and above all, an act of joy.