VAUX

Brielle Nicole Vaux was born to Charles and Christine Vaux on a stormy day in May of 1989 - the only day in ten years that Astoria, Queens was under a tornado warning. Eight years after her older twin brothers, Braysin and Bryan were born, Brielle entered the world a bald headed, screaming bundle of terror. Despite the incessant wailing and shrill screams that came from their only daughter, Charles and Christine were over the moon with their miracle baby. They had tried for years to conceive another child, both quietly wishing for a daughter, and were elated to have finally completed their family.

To Brielle, her childhood was relatively normal. Christine worked as a teacher, having recently retired, and her father was a well-known defense attorney at a successful Manhattan firm. She earned good grades throughout elementary and middle school, spending her free time drawing or painting. It was all too easy to stay out of trouble (or, at least not to get caught) with Braysin and Bryan keeping tabs on her, something she'd eventually be thankful for. In her free time, Brielle was often dragging into various games or sports by her brothers, but left to her own devices she prefered the quiet calm of small, secret spaces. The small cemetary down the street came to be her private retreat on the days or nights when the yelling and screaming inside the small Astoria apartment became too much to bear. It was only the start of the soundtrack to her life being marked by abrasive yelling and arguing. During those turbulent evenings, she became laser focused on drawing her emotions or capturing the events of what she thought might be happening downstairs between her mother and father, or father and brothers. While most children retain their innocence and childlike wonder long into their elementary years, Brielle was wise beyond her years after hearing the content of such arguments. In sharp contrast to the passionate altercations that frequently occurred, however, she was a generally quiet and introverted soul. It felt safer that way, though that began to change as she matured and hardened to the harsh realities of the Vaux microcosm.

As she got older and once Braysin moved out, Brielle began to understand life a bit differently. Without her brother there to protect her, she took on the role of protector on the evenings that Charles came home a bit too early, a bit too intoxicated, and passionately eager for a fight. She quickly came to the harsh realization that while she had been hold up inside of her room drawing, coloring, and painting, the scene was quite different in the rest of her house. Not surprisingly, Brielle grew up and matured much more quickly than her same aged peers, never once mourning the loss of her innocence taken too soon. She was a woman of action, thoughts pushed aside until later, which made her useful in emergency situations - like when she found her mother bloodied and beaten on the kitchen floor. Throughout her time at PS 84, Brielle often felt out of place among her peers. She hadwitnessed and been through more than the average fifteen year old and while she wanted to focus on school and earning good grades, she often found herself distracted and concerned regarding the whereabouts and goings on between her parents. After long, she realized that it was simply easier to throw herself into her work, just as she had done with her art. And so, while she had a few stints of troublesome episodes in high school, Brielle's ultimate focus became earning high enough marks to attend an out of state college. She joined the cheerleading team and served as captain for a short stint, even tried her hand at other sports. As her high school years when on, she wound up pushing away close friends as things in her household grew more tense and aggressive. She had her eye to the future and was intently focused on graduating and moving as far away as possible.

Two days after graduating from high school, Brielle left New York and headed west to begin her college career at UC Berkeley. The moment that plane landed was the fresh start she had been looking for all along. For the next four years she studied studio art and media, thriving in an environment that was not the angst-ridden home she knew all her life. She was overwhelmed with guilt initially, constantly concerned over the well being of her parents, but eventually eased into the laid back lifestyle that California offered. She was able to temporarily shed the crown she wore so heavy atop her brunette head, tired of being her father's pride and joy while the rest of her family got the brunt of his frustration and anger. Brielle ended up spending six years out in California, rarely coming back home to New York, even for holidays. Braysin was no longer around and the thought of going home to the once familiar soundtrack of shrill screams and broken dishes made her skin crawl. Out in California, Brielle had built a life for herself. She had begun to seriously date Sawyer Wheaton, a relationship that was turbulent and unhealthy despite the years they both managed to stick things out. Brielle began to work at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art where she had the opportunity to work with immense talent and meet people who inspired her daily. During that time, her time was spent attending events, creating, and soaking up every single experience offered to her that ultimately enriched her skillset and appreciation for art.

With no intentions of returning to New York, Brielle was dumbfounded and shocked when she recieved a call from Braysin begging her to come home. Permanently. He informed her that things had gotten bad - not only between Charles and Christine, but with Christine's health - and that he wouldn't be asking if he didn't truly believe it was important for her to be there. Family was always Brielle's number one priority, even halfway across the country, even despite the circumstances of her childhood, even knowing exactly what she'd be going home to. The week before Brielle was supposed to move back home, Sawyer proposed. It wasn't particularly romantic and certainly not over the top, but his request was earnest. To his dismay, Brielle simply could not bring herself to say yes. She simply had too many obligations, her mind wasn't in the right place, and she hadn't fully conceptualized her feelings on marriage in the first place. Her simple answer to Sawyer was 'I can't,' before packings her bags and moving back to New York in the days following his proposal. When she returned home, the same dark cloud of doom that hung over her head had returned. She lived with her parents for a short while until she was no longer able to take it and moved into her own apartment. Charles, happy to see his baby girl back home and eager to help her settle, helped her acquire a job at the current law office where she works doing paralegal work. She works there a few days per week and the rest of her time is spent at Pioneer Works, a non-profit foundation in Red Hook that fosters multidisciplinary creativity in the arts and sciences. Founded by artist Dustin Yellin, a friend from California, he recruited Brielle to work part time and offered her a small space of her own to turn into a studio.