Studio Baklava
Brian Lacey (b. 1988) alias studio_baklava, is an artist and muralist working and living out of Miami, Florida. Drawing inspiration from material choices and the symbolism of memories, his work examines the relationships we have with our environments, and the coinciding implications of these experiences. Some works can be viewed as preludes to others. Within the facets of his practice, reuse and material appropriation and relations to the natural world are intended as a transformation to strengthen dimensionality through layered documentation. Combined with his personal history, this creates a metamorphism from one state to another that defines the resilience and adaptability of human identity within the context of individual, societal, and environmental change. His mural work and public practice allows for exploration in the development of new techniques and tools, providing the space and attention to focus on the role of nuance and detail. For him, this leads to new innovation and further exploration in his large-scale work. This reiterative process helps to inform, influence and strengthen his public artwork. Stylistic influences he is currently exploring in his mural work are a direct result of methods, techniques, and materials explored within his studio pertaining to the universal nature of geometry relating to both the natural, and artificially created world. Primarily using aerosol and latex paints applied with standard mass-produced and studio crafted utensils while drawing inspiration from material choices and symbolism of memories, Lacey explores juxtapositions of paint, street posters, and repurposed materials that result in hard-edged geometry, figurative and realistic portrayals, and highly-textural, abstract expressive works.
Impact
As a selected Artist commissioned to paint a Tamarac Sports Complex Water Tank mural I provided a professional level, world-class mural unique and as strong as the city of Tamarac itself. The mural aligns to the values and pursuits of health, welfare, quality of life and diversity paramount to Tamarac and the county of Broward as a whole. My proposed artwork energized the facility and its patrons through depictions of bold, dynamic, 3D-depth producing geometric and organic abstractions that retain clear representations highlighting the full array of sports offerings available at the Sports Complex: Soccer, baseball, basketball, skateboarding, and tennis. Inclusivity is a key value encouraging of a highly welcoming nature facilitating accessibility to all those who frequent the Complex. Careful color selection draws inspiration from Broward County’s rich cultural influence combined with symbolic nods to the sports offered at the complex while remaining in step complimenting the existing color palette of the water tank.
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Seasons
With the honor of being selected to adorn Oolite’s exciting newest space I made the commitment to create mural that encompasses relevant regional imagery and symbolism to create a narrative of metamorphosis and seasonal change to celebrate and exemplify Oolite’s next chapter. The layout was methodically formulated in four sections signifying the change of seasons to represent Oolite’s excellence of 40 years serving the Miami-Dade arts community. Colors were carefully and methodically selected. The background displaying a color palette representative of the rising and setting of the sun, indicative of the cyclical nature of the passing of time. Two large blue and turquoise shapes were designed referencing natural waterways that shape, and support life. Purple and green shapes based upon contour studies of Mangroves, Strangler Fig, and Palmetto fronds interlock to reinforce structure, while the orange and yellow shapes represent native avian and insect life. Furthermore, the orange and yellow shape on the right of the composition is a direct reference of the wings of the Monarch Butterfly to emphasize positive growth and the transformation of Oolite’s exciting next chapter. Together these elements serve to create the metaphor to Oolite’s history and growth that healthy ecosystems not only provide the resources to survive, but to thrive allowing organism to elevate in existence.
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Memphis Sun
In 2023 I was fortunate to be invited to the 9th annual edition of the Tennessee mural festival Paint Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee and given the pleasure of a provided westward facing wall I began my conceptual through process with the passage of time and the rising and setting of the sun in the American South. Digging deeper into my artistic toolbox I included direct inspiration stemming from indigenous star, and medicine wheel patterns to pay homage and relate to the regions rich indigenous history further dissected and abstracted to create a dialogue of transformation.
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Coriolis
This mural, commissioned for Joule House Miami through Wxllspace, explores the rhythmic intelligence of ocean tides through a language of geometric abstraction. Rooted in the visual cadence of the Atlantic along Miami, the composition translates the unseen forces of lunar pull, coastal wind, and shifting currents into structured form. Layered shapes and interlocking planes echo the push and pull of water—expansion and retreat, tension and release. Repetition and variation create a sense of movement across the surface, mimicking the cyclical patterns of tides as they continuously reshape the shoreline. The geometry is both precise and fluid, reflecting the dual nature of the ocean: mathematically governed yet endlessly organic. Color is used to evoke depth, light, and atmospheric change, moving between gradients that suggest shallow translucence and deeper, more opaque waters. These tonal shifts invite viewers to experience the mural as a temporal space—one that changes with perspective, light, and time of day, much like the ocean itself. Ultimately, the work serves as a meditation on natural rhythm within a built environment. It brings the external pulse of the sea into an interior setting, creating a visual dialogue between structure and flow, permanence and transformation.
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SMash Your Television No.2
Revisiting themes of disconnection to the technology that binds our lives “S.Y.T. No.2 Continues to explore our relationship to technology through the notion of art as a window. Properties, purpose, and use of the box itself in relation to the very public space and human beings it exists with, I created an up-beat, playful and curious design to compliment the space and engage the most uninterested of passer-by. Titled, Smash Your Television No2 and abstractly depicting such, the meaning encouraging viewers to spend less time with screens, and more with in community.
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Gateway
Created to bridge the gap between likeminded creatives spanning the east and west coasts of the United States and everything in between. Symbolic imagery was employed to represent the variety of artistic disciplines within our creative climate, while the background depicts waveforms and the setting of the sun to provide rhythm and represent the passing of time.
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Prism
Given a clinical setting, great care was given to include Intentional rhythm and balance to encourage a comfortable directive through the space, without feeling overly commanding, while semi-abstracted foliage shapes were used to reference and pay tribute to the natural, and horticultural derived aspects of the laboratory’s specification. While not required, the Penrose Triangle towards the far left of the composition and accompanying red/orange/yellow shapes throughout were assets included as a special reference to the client. The black “holes” were implemented as primary subject matter to influence curiosity, discovery, and encourage clinicians and assistants to dive-in.
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Floorplan
As a music connoisseur of a wealth of genres I was overjoyed to have an opportunity to create two murals to finish-off and activate the main, dance floor walls at the famous Spybar in Chicago, Illinois. The mural depicted here combines the reds, and purple accompanied with the less popular choice of ochre, and greens symbolize the necessary and spaces with which it exists.
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Smash Your Television
Playing off of the properties, purpose, and use of the box itself in relation to the very public space and human beings it exists with, I created an up-beat, playful and curious design to compliment the space and engage the most uninterested of passer-by. Titled, “S.Y.T (Smash Your Television)” and abstractly depicting such, the meaning is intended not literally but to encourage viewers to spend less time with their screens, and more with one another.
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House Of Passions
Included is my work for Passionhouse Coffee Roasters to illustrate the execution of unique but appropriate request for colaboration, involving a limited color palette and composition. Two large-scale murals directly inspired by Passionhouse’s branding were created for both the full exterior, and interior of the establishment’s Goose Island flagship store, paired with a 3D illuminated sculptural element.
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Toolbox
As a selected artist in LifeWtr’s 2019 “Canvas For Change” project, phase one I was fortunate to be assigned a wall to paint on a local job placement facility, integral to the community. The design depicts abstracted tools and building materials, rendered with colors referencing the community; it’s inhabitants, and extremely colorful history.
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