|
New Hampshire Charitable Foundation awards the 2011 Piscataqua Region Artist Advancement Grant |
|
The Piscataqua Region Artist Advancement Grant provides an opportunity for an individual visual artist to receive financial support of up to $25,000 to promote their artistic growth. Since its inception in 2002, the program has awarded nearly $300,000. Ms. Bernard will use the grant for professional development, research of and experimentation with new techniques and equipment, and continued pursuit of her work. The driving force in Ms. Bernard's work is summarized by the equation: Movement plus materials equals form. Fascinated with movement, kinesthetics and the basic laws of motion, Ms. Bernard works from the premise that the understanding of movement can be revealed through repetition. Beginning with the body, combining materials with movement, her work synthesizes a personal history and deep connection to body movement informing kinetic sculpture, drawings and video that are both experiential and interactive. "My present projects investigate the intersection where the hard and fast science of physics collides with sublime spirituality," says Bernard. "These projects choreograph time and space where terror and fear converge with veneration and wonder, where flight and anti-gravity serve as metaphors for the state of suspension, meditation and layered interpretation." The Piscataqua Region Artist Advancement Grant grew out of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation's long-term commitment to support the arts. The grant recognizes the importance of the artists who live and work in the region and help to make it such a vital community. The Artist Advancement Grant was developed to show respect for artists, create meaningful substantive support, help artists advance their work and career, and mutually benefit individual artists and the region as a whole. Artist Advancement Grant recipients are selected on the basis of work that demonstrates an artistic vision and a plan for how they will use the grant to grow their artistic development. The first grant was made in the spring of 2002 to sculptor Gary Haven Smith from Northwood. Subsequent recipients were: painter Kate Doyle from New Castle, potter Maureen Mills from Portsmouth, eco-artist Tim Gaudreau, an eco-artist from Portsmouth, installation artists Barbara Rita Jenny from Portsmouth and Kirsten Reynolds from Newmarket, new media artist Ross Cisneros from Sanbornville, woodworker and sculptor Lynn Szymanski from Rollinsford, and painter and installation artist Gail Spaien of Kittery Point, Maine. Applicants for the 2011 award came from 17 communities and represented a variety of media, including glasswork, painting, textiles, photography, mixed media and others. Two independent juries reviewed the artwork and the plans submitted by the applicants. The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation manages a growing collection of charitable funds created by individuals, families and businesses, and awards approximately $30 million annually in grants and scholarships. It serves communities throughout New Hampshire, southeastern Maine and eastern Vermont. The Foundation is nonpartisan, frequently playing the role of convener and catalyst on a broad spectrum of issues. Based in Concord, the Foundation roots itself in the communities through regional advisory boards. More information is available at www.nhcf.org or 603-225-6641. If you’d like to be removed from the email list, simply reply with “remove” at the subject and I will promptly do so. |
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90yOtCvyVgg
Performance Statement- For the opening reception I will "perform" a pendulum piece, drizzling molten encaustic wax onto a panel lying flat, allowing viewers to see the way this series was created. The inspiration for the Pendulum Series occurred while viewing the sand pendulum at the Boston Museum of Science which, when swung, drizzles sand in a geometric pattern. It occurred to me that if sand were replaced by molten encaustic wax, a permanent geometric pattern would adhere itself to a panel lying flat. Ultimately, the mark is determined by the length of the cable, the amount of wax I place in the pendulum and the manner in which I push, swing and propel the pendulum.
I will give a brief talk about the process and answer questions.
Spirendulum Series - Fascinated with movement, kinesthetics and the basic laws of motion I work from the premise that the understanding of movement can be revealed through repetition. Beginning with the body, combining materials with movement, my work synthesizes a personal history and deep connection to body movement. My recent Spirendulum Series involves 2-D encaustic panels positioned on the studio floor to receive marks made with a wax drizzling pendulum that I swing, push and propel. Aware of the tension created between mechanical symmetry and organic flow, I play with relationship of control and lack thereof. The driving force of my work would be summarized by the equation, movement + materials = form.
Kim Bernard shows her sculpture, installations and encaustic works nationally and has been featured in many exhibits, some of which include the Art Complex Museum, Saco Museum, Currier Museum of Art, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Montserrat College of Art, Merrimack College and Phillips Exeter Academy and the 2011 Biennial at the Portland Museum of Art. Her work has been reviewed in the Boston Globe and Art News and is featured in the recent publication 100 Artists of New England. Bernard is represented by Arden Gallery in Boston, Boston Sculptors, Bowersock Gallery, Provincetown, MA and McGowan Fine Art, Concord, NH. She received her BFA from Parsons in 1987, her MFA from Mass Art in 2010 and currently teaches at the Maine College of Art and Plymouth State University. Bernard gives presentations, lectures and offers workshops nationally as a visiting artist but makes her home and work in Maine.
KIM BERNARD
EDUCATION
2010 M.F.A., Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, MA
1987 B.F.A., Parsons School of Design, NYC