Meet Abi Bernstein | Artist, Teacher

We had the good fortune of connecting with Abi Bernstein and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Abi, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Being creative was the first thing I remember being. I loved to dance as a kid and I have always been interested in music. When I discovered ceramics it felt like the perfect mesh of all the things I loved about artistic expression. Movement, intuition, experimentation, play, mess. Clay has a unique ability to become anything if you’re willing to work with it. It sort of has a mind of its own, and sometimes reliable techniques still fail depending on how the clay is feeling. The atmosphere can impact a lot as well. You have to be in tune with yourself, your material, and your environment in order to get something just right. That type of harmony is difficult to find outside of the art world.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I started ceramics in high school. Every day was a challenge to see how much time I could get away with spending in the studio. I often came to school early and stayed late to get extra hours of practice in. Most of my learning was done online and through peers during this time because I was not able to fit any classes in my schedule. Eventually all my teachers realized where I would sneak off to and started sending other students to the ceramics studio to bring me back to class.

Once I started my undergrad at Massart I finally started taking ceramics courses and learned a lot of hand building techniques I had never tried. Before this I focussed primarily on wheel throwing which helped me to understand the ways clay can be stretched. Once I got more interested in hand building, my understanding of the clays strength and balance from wheel throwing helped me create really large work as well as super teeny tiny work. I enjoy pushing the scale of my work, incorporating small details on larger pieces allows me to hold viewers attention and create a more immersive experience.

I often struggle to explain my work until it’s done because for me it’s an exercise in processing the human experience, and the human experience is usually very confusing. My work is usually a response to whatever my current environment is or whatever experiences from my past might still be in my mind. Growing up I struggled to vocalize my emotions and as an adult it can still be quite hard to maintain my composure while talking about difficult things. My work allows me to lighten what weighs me down and connect with others on a very personal level without having to explain or justify anything. Human emotion is so complicated, we often forget how similar our sufferings can be. Art is a way for us to know we are not alone in our emotions even if our experiences are different.

I am inspired by nature’s ability to cohabitate. Trees and mycelium not only share resources but also information. Underground signals alert nearby organisms of a tree in need, or warn of an infection to stay away from. There are endless accounts of species engaging in symbiotic relationships with one another, even those which we deem “unconscious.” Plants have been known to grow cavernous roots to house bugs in exchange for nutrients. Micro and Macro scale everything is in communication. There is so much beauty and tragedy in nature. Even ants have a burial ceremony for their dead.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I am relatively new to the area but when I have people visit I’ll usually take them to Village Coffee before a hike up to the flatirons. Afterwards we might cool off in boulder creek or on a paddle board at the reservoir. I had a close friend visit recently and on our last night we made sure to go watch the sunset at Chautauqua Park and wait for the stars to come out. And of course I wouldn’t be a good host if I didn’t take my guests on a scenic drive past/through the mountains.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Janna Longacre, Ben Ryterband, and Molly Coughlin have been truly incredible mentors. Molly welcomed me into the ceramics community at my highschool and encouraged me to pursue a higher education at Massart. Ben and Janna took me on from there and showed me just how much clay could really do.

Jackson Fyfe was my first mentor. I met him in the ceramics studio at my high school and we quickly became best friends. He is the best wheel thrower I have ever met and taught me most of what I know about the wheel.

Website: https://sites.google.com/colorado.edu/abibernstein/portfolio

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abi.bernstein/