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My artwork focuses on the human body and its many responses to itself. For example, the photographs with layered exposures distort and explore the movement of the human body as they attempt to replicate a theatrical presence. Meanwhile, the sculptures work to discuss a different version of distortion. Instead of portraying an informative image of movement and beauty, it explores deformities and physical dysmorphia with the intention of pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable and what is horrific. How will you react to seeing what resembles a body in beautiful gore strewn over a pedestal for you to find? I am interested in exploring the boundaries of our comfort zones through the lens of the everyday mundane. Through photography and sculpture, I seek to depict the human experience—more specifically, my own human experience—and how it interacts with the natural world. My artwork expresses my views on society as a whole as well as my emotional responses to personal situations. I have experienced success, love, and healing in my own life in addition to sorrow, grief, and mental illness. Consider my work to be a visual diary, a reflection of my life and my reactions to the events and people within it.
 

My energetic personality and synesthesia fuel my artwork. Color serves as my own symbolic lexicon. Each hue tells a tale, and each color conjures a memory. This enables me to utilize different tones to address specific people, situations, and feelings. It is my own secret language that informs and fortifies my visual style and color selections. The saturation and contrast levels determine the tone I wish to express in all of my work.

Louise Bourgeois is one of my primary inspirations. Through her installations, paintings, and sculptures, she concentrated on conveying both individual and universal emotions. Like her, I additionally look for multidisciplinary approaches, focusing more on shared sentiments than materiality. I create circumstances in which everyday objects are modified or detached from their natural function. Different functions and/or contexts are created by applying specific combinations and manipulations.
 

In my photography, I layer scenes from various environments on top of one another or create distorted images using multiple exposures. I frequently photograph live music performances in my freelancing work, capturing the movements that each individual makes in front of an audience. It's appealing to observe how their bodies respond to their instrument while simultaneously providing a stage presence. I enjoy the challenge of describing a whole performance by strategically dividing each musician into their own space and creating multiple exposure collages from a variety of angles, creating a cohesive digital piece that unifies the band's and crowd's expressive points of view.
 

The human body has been a recurring theme throughout my work. Through my photography and digitally enhanced Photoshop work, I explore the abject figure. By utilizing body casting and mold making, I am able to express my ideas three-dimensionally, thus giving my artwork space and physical form. Abjection, occurring between the subject and object or between oneself and another, usually results in the person turning away in disgust or staring in shock, frozen and repulsed by such visuals. By intertwining, layering, and replacing parts of the whole, my distortions grow from familiar to disturbing.
 

© 2020 by Courtney Bernardo created with Wix.com

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