ARTIST STATEMENT
In her 2005 text, A Field Guide to Getting Lost, writer Rebecca Solnit contemplates the idea of discovery, and poses the question meditated on by ancient philosophers: How will you go about finding; That thing; The nature of which is totally unknown to you? The journey of discovering what is unknown to me became a pilgrimage of self awareness, an expedition that I believe is only beginning. Through the medium of ceramics, I create work to inspire a narrative. Some of the dialogue is insular, meant to be about myself, or my family, my feelings on maternal lineage or raising two daughters in today’s society, while some of the conversation I mean to inspire is more global, the struggle to find self, the societal expectations of people and the burden put upon us as a collective in today’s disconnected world.
I have always been focused on what was coming next, making it difficult to live in the moment. My current body of work is my attempt to explain feelings surrounding: aging, wrestling with the stresses of my chosen career, craving a sense of stability, preserving preciousness, and a vain attempt to freeze time. Along with the ceramic objects I create, an important part of my practice is to cast objects in resin, which is a meditative intention, meant to slow me down, to stop looking for the next task to accomplish. Ephemerality, change, and pedagogy inspired these works. While I enjoy the process of educating, creating a dialogue, and preserving a current moment, I understand that the desire to turn my brain off and freeze myself in this time and space, is an impossible idea. This realization and understanding fosters and empowers my continued expedition through art.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Amy G. Bernard is an interdisciplinary artist, living and working in the western suburbs of Chicago. Her practice is rooted in ceramics and sculpture, inspired by the history of materials and the nature of craft, drawing from the world of past art and artifact as a never ending source of inspiration. Aspects surrounding ancient through contemporary artworks influence a new and fresh perspective which enriches her creations. Feminist art theory and philosophy construct a web of inter-connectivity between the art of prehistory to the art of today, all while empowering the feminine which has been cast aside for millennia. Concepts of crisis, care, and resolution are echoed in Amy’s practice, which has evolved into activism through art, producing a discourse on the everyday militarism of the American school system. Through varying media, Amy works to showcase the art of the past and the missing feminine history, working toward an awareness waiting to be uncovered.
© Amy G. Bernard