Bree Cutts creates contemporary works that merge color, pattern, and story. Influenced by a background in design, her practice uses printmaking and material experimentation to create pieces that feel both playful and deeply considered.
Her studio practice is focused on building a distinctive body of work where curiosity, color, and narrative intersect.
ABOUT BREE
Bree Cutts is a contemporary artist whose work is shaped by a background in design and a fascination with pattern, color and layered storytelling.
Working across serigraph processes, custom pigments, and material exploration, she creates vibrant works that invite immediate visual connection while revealing deeper narratives over time. Her practice is rooted in the belief that pattern can hold memory, interpretation, and meaning, transforming stories, references, and observations into bold visual language.
Bree’s work often begins with curiosity: a historical figure, a personal memory, an overlooked detail, or a larger cultural theme. These starting points are distilled into compositions that feel joyful and accessible on the surface, yet reward closer attention through deeper conceptual layers.
With a designer’s eye for composition and structure, Bree creates work that lives between art and design sensibility: visually magnetic, carefully considered, and open to discovery.
ARTIST RESIDENCIES
PUGLIA ITALY WITH CAROLINE LIZARRAGA
In the summer of 2025, I traveled to Puglia to learn the craft of faux bois from decorative artist Caroline Lizarraga at her retreat, Curiosare Italia. Each morning, our group of design and art enthusiasts practiced techniques using a variety of paints and tools, as Caroline guided us through mimicking the look of natural materials — from fine woods to intricate stones. My goal was to replicate the vibrancy of labradorite, and the richness of lapis lazuli.
We also had the privilege of visiting local artists and craftspeople throughout the region, each offering a window into their singular creative practice. From ceramicists shaping forms rooted in centuries of Southern Italian tradition, to papermakers working with delicate handmade sheets, to sculptors coaxing figures and patterns from local stone, every encounter deepened my appreciation for the rich material culture of Puglia.
The trip was made even richer by visits to the ancient city of Matera before the retreat, and Rome afterward, where I found myself captivated by its layering of ancient wonders and modern life.
PETALUMA CALIFORNIA PRINTING RESIDENCY AT IN CAHOOTS
In 2024, I was accepted into a residency at In Cahoots, an immersive printmaking experience in Petaluma, California. With my own dedicated press and no time constraints, I was finally able to dive deep into letterpress — something I had long dreamed of doing.
I also experimented with different printing inks, losing myself in the meditative process of matching colors to Pantone codes. For me, it was pure bliss.
INTAGLIO AT CROWN POINT PRESS IN SAN FRANCISCO CALIFORNIA
In the summer of 2023, I attended a week-long immersive Etching Workshop at Crown Point Press in San Francisco, where I learned the intaglio technique. I spent most of my time etching copper plates for one of my patterns, Wisdom Pearls — an abstract portrait of Veronica Franco, a 16th-century Venetian poet and courtesan who survived the Venetian Inquisition.
What makes intaglio so distinctive is its ability to deposit ink at varying thicknesses in a single pass — something no other printing method can do. The process begins with a plate etched with grooves of different depths, which are filled with ink, then wiped clean by cloth and hand. A moist sheet of paper is laid over the plate and run through a press, which forces the paper into every depression, pulling the ink out to create the final print.