About the Artist
Lourdes Bernard a Dominican-American multi-media Artist, a Brooklynite and a Brooklyn Tech alum. She is a graduate of Syracuse University School of Architecture and The New York Studio School. As a STEM professional she practiced architecture for 23 years, leading numerous design teams and collaborating on high-end projects nationwide. Her artwork has been exhibited at El Museo del Barrio where she was artist in residence, Jamaica Center for Arts as artist in residence, the New York Public Library, PS1 Contemporary Art Center, Boston College, The Wilmer Jennings Gallery, FiveMyles Gallery,the Courtyard Gallery in D.C.and other venues.Bernard received a BAF art grant from the Brooklyn Arts Council and in 2020 she received The Sendak-Glynn Narrative Illustration Grant from the Yaddo Foundation. She is a recipient of an Abby Mural Fellowship,a Wurlitzer Foundation Fellowship and a Yaddo Foundation Fellowship Bernard teaches drawing and has been a guest speaker on her research-based projects at various colleges and universities. Her work is in numerous private collections. Bernard's solo exhibition "The Women of April” was on view at the NYSS gallery in NYC in Spring 2022. She is currently working on a narrative art monograph of her three-part Dominican Migration series for which she received a 2023 NAF award from the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures.
About the Work
Lourdes Bernard creates research-based fine art drawings, mixed media works and paintings of Cityscapes, Landscapes , Political Satire, and Feminist images that reference contemporary and historical events. Working within the framework of artist as witness, the images become a visual reportage of untold history and stories.The work invites viewers to unpack complex history and allows them to expand their understanding. Images of women are central to an ongoing exploration of women within given social, communal and political identities. Historical photographs, oral stories, “mujerista” culture, and language are utilized as mediums in the work. Bernard has been exploring colonialist history both beyond US borders and within it. A recent project "The Women of April" uses figurative images to narrate the impact of militarism as a push factor for mass displacement in the Caribbean. Within US borders the images of cityscapes portray the city as a living and animated space which is continually acted upon, transformed and erased as new forms emerge. Here the architecture is the figure. The image making is driven by a process that includes photography and drawing. Drawing is foundational to her work and she uses a variety of materials to create complex and layered images to reinforce a visual narrative.
Lourdes Bernard pictured in the Upper Room studio.
"Drawing is the art of being able to leave an accurate record of the experience of what one doesn't know. A great drawing is either confirming beautifully what is commonplace or probing authoritatively the unknown"- Brett Whiteley