Today we’d like to introduce you to Olivia Bernard.
Olivia, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
My interest in art began in college at Brown University where I received a B.A. in Art History. After college, I had jobs in various visual fields–architecture, graphic design–and took studio classes until I was able to go back to school full time in art. I then attended the Museum School in Boston, to attain the equivalent of a BFA, starting in printmaking and ending up focusing as a painter. I then attended Lesley College, now University, to get a Masters in Education, where I developed, through an independent study, a curriculum that integrated art into early skill development in reading, writing, and math for kids age five-seven. From there, I taught children both in K-2private school classrooms and eventually teaching at the nursery school level in a child development center. While I did this, I continued to develop my own art. In 1985, I returned to the Boston Museum School for an MFA in sculpture as by then, my work had really developed into three dimensions. By then, I had moved to Western Mass and realized that making art was my true calling, so I did whatever I could to support myself, as my work and exhibition opportunities continued to develop.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
My work has evolved over the years, through a process that is an inquiry into tactile materials, and a search for images that resonate with, and create a connection between my internal state and what is going on in my immediate surrounding, as well as more broadly. I worked with plaster for many years, developing my own methods of pouring plaster into cheesecloth and using gravity to influence the shape and form that was created. If there is a through the line in my work it is the sensate experience of being in a physical body. While my work is not representational, it does reference organic forms, often in a dependent relation to geometric forms. Eventually, I began moving closer to the human form by casting plaster and cheesecloth on people, not to represent them, but as a starting point from which I would then develop a piece. I often work in repetitive forms that accumulate. Most recently, I have been working with lighter materials, that allow me to examine notions of skin, breath, flight, ephemerality, and impermanence. For these pieces, I work with handmade paper, glass, wax, wire, mylar. My intention is for my pieces to evoke a visceral, emotional response from viewers, to remind us of our constant vulnerability, and our transiency.
Given everything that is going on in the world today, do you think the role of artists has changed? How do local, national or international events and issues affect your art?
The art world has changed a great deal since I was first involved in it, and the role of artists has changed too. There are now many more artists trying to have successful careers, and the art world has become much more about commerce. Since our world has become much “smaller” due to the internet, the greater ease of travel, more artists from a larger variety of nations is being shown all over the world. The art world is now very multicultural. Artists often use their work to inform a larger audience about who they are, where they are from, and their culture. In addition, many artists have taken on the role or the task of using their work either for political messages or to highlight an issue that they are involved in or concerned about. I am deeply affected by what is going on in the world and feel that it influences how I feel every day. It does come into my work as well, but not usually very overtly. The qualities of my work that speak about vulnerability and transiency are my effort to comment on the problems of violence, hatred, exclusion, racism, and to suggest that we value our basic humanity over these kinds of biases.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
I have shown my work extensively in New England for many years, as well as in New York, and Europe. My most recent exhibition was at the Oresman Gallery at Smith College in Northampton, MA. I am also a member of Gallery A3 in Amherst, MA. I am now developing new projects and working toward new opportunities. My work can be seen in person at my studio by contacting me or digitally on my website at www.oliviabernard.com. I always welcome inquiries about my work. I find support by hearing what people see in my work, and by opportunities to exhibit and or collaborate.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.oliviabernard.com
- Email: oliviabernard23@gmail.com
- Instagram: olivia_bernard
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/olivia.bernard.524
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/user/oliviabernard
Image Credit:
Alyssa Robb, photographer David Stansbury, photographer
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