Brooks is a Los Angeles-based artist whose work navigates the emotional terrain between nature, memory, and constructed environments. Using a self-developed process that layers resin, wax, graphite, acrylic, semi-transparent films and mixed media, he builds meditative, dreamlike compositions. Fog-laced forests, icy expanses, and fractured wildernesses emerge, subtly interrupted by industrial remnants, intimate symbols, and queer-coded artifacts—quiet echoes of identity and impermanence.
He received his BFA with honors from Art Center College of Design in 2004, launching his career with a solo debut at NewSpace Gallery. Since then, his work has been exhibited internationally and featured in museums including MOAH (Lancaster), the Hammer Museum, and MOCA Los Angeles. His solo show Rut in the Soil (2018) marked a turning point, where themes of isolation, loss, and environmental tension became deeply intertwined with his personal history and identity.
A former National Parks artist-in-residence at Denali and White River, Salzwedel draws on his deep love of quiet places and overlooked details. His pieces have been commissioned by musicians like Novo Amor and institutions like LA Metro and the Guthrie Theater. He’s spoken on his process and themes at Gonzaga University, MOAH, and other venues.
Now working from his home studio in Highland Park, Brooks is expanding his creative reach—exploring multimedia storytelling, curatorial collaborations, and immersive sculptural works. His recent iceberg and forest series pushes further into concepts of vulnerability, permanence, and queer ecology. Whether through intimate terrariums or monumental dreamscapes, Salzwedel’s work invites viewers to reflect on how we carry history, trauma, and beauty across shifting emotional and physical landscapes.
He received his BFA with honors from Art Center College of Design in 2004, launching his career with a solo debut at NewSpace Gallery. Since then, his work has been exhibited internationally and featured in museums including MOAH (Lancaster), the Hammer Museum, and MOCA Los Angeles. His solo show Rut in the Soil (2018) marked a turning point, where themes of isolation, loss, and environmental tension became deeply intertwined with his personal history and identity.
A former National Parks artist-in-residence at Denali and White River, Salzwedel draws on his deep love of quiet places and overlooked details. His pieces have been commissioned by musicians like Novo Amor and institutions like LA Metro and the Guthrie Theater. He’s spoken on his process and themes at Gonzaga University, MOAH, and other venues.
Now working from his home studio in Highland Park, Brooks is expanding his creative reach—exploring multimedia storytelling, curatorial collaborations, and immersive sculptural works. His recent iceberg and forest series pushes further into concepts of vulnerability, permanence, and queer ecology. Whether through intimate terrariums or monumental dreamscapes, Salzwedel’s work invites viewers to reflect on how we carry history, trauma, and beauty across shifting emotional and physical landscapes.