KAREN BERNSTEIN

Artist’s Statement

I’ve been doing art of one kind or another since I could first pick up a pencil. But it wasn’t until I was in my late twenties that I admitted to myself that I was an artist, whether I wanted to be one or not. Ask any artist, and they will tell you it’s not really a choice you get to make – it gets made for you.

I experimented with various media, but it was only when I accidentally discovered the world of modern fiber art that I realized I had found the medium in which I could best express myself. Working with fabric allows me to create dramatic yet nuanced abstract fields of color drawn from the natural world.

Today, I make pieces that I treat like fine art.

The ideas can come from a fragment of an object I see in a magazine, from an evocative sentence in a book, from an idea that pops into my head, or from a dream. Sometimes I must act on them immediately — drop everything to make what I see in my mind. Sometimes I let the idea percolate for years until it is ripe.

The other half of my inspiration comes from styles and regions that I am consistently drawn to, Japan and Morocco in particular. Somehow, they all work together to form unique and evocative pieces.

If I had to pick one sentence to describe what unites my art, I’d say “I’m all about color.” I am drawn to earth tones and soft, muted colors — whether they are autumn colors or blues and greens.

In a world that seems to be fraught with more dissension and peril every day, I think it is important to keep creating and surrounding ourselves with things of beauty that remind us of the good that humans are capable of. The sublime works of art from the Lascaux Caves to Rembrandt remind us of the transcendence of the human spirit. If I can share just a little bit of that with others, I will count myself lucky.