Amy Bernard is an art therapist from Miami, FL. After graduating with her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Theater from New College of Florida, she worked with adolescents and children across residential art-focused institutions, investing herself in learning how to authentically support and communicate with young people. With the start of the pandemic in 2020, Amy sought to support healthy development for young people within a highly volatile and emotional time in history, ultimately deciding to pursue her graduate education at the School of the Institute of Chicago in pursuit of becoming an Art Therapist. While not a conventionally trained artist, Amy seeks to use a relational-cultural approach to connecting energetically and authentically with her therapy clients through the use of art materials. Through healing-centered engagement, Amy seeks to find and center client strengths to encourage self-acceptance and healthy functioning in a complex and systematic world.
The pieces in this series use crochet as a self-portrait medium as I seek to come face to face with personal self-hatred. Each of the pieces in this series depicts aspects of my body I am most critical of. This work allows me to filter intense self-criticality through the softer lens of crochet sculpture. While I may wish to cover up, change, or hide parts of myself that I dislike, these pieces are displayed and highlighted to represent the truce I am making with my own imperfect body.
Although conventional self-portrait sculptures have been captured in the pure white of marble or plaster, my pieces emulate this concreteness despite being created in soft, squishy yarn. While my desire to change, adjust, and manage my appearance can be satisfied through the continual building and layering of crochet, the aesthetic of the pieces suggests the confidence of my self-interpretation, even if it is only my most current and emotionally laden interpretation.
As a sculpture artist, I find immense satisfaction in combining materials to encapsulate a complex self-reflection. While crochet is often used in a flat format, the application of the sculpture is reminiscent of a stuffed animal, which we are automatically drawn to caress, cuddle, or touch with gentleness. While I do not always approach myself with gentleness, these pieces seek to invite kindness and self-compassion.
Lap, 2023. Crocheted yarn and polyester fiberfill.Image Description: A pair of stuffed crochet legs in white yarn with rounded thighs extending down from a waist and stomach. The legs are in a naturalistic seated position.
Likeness, 2023. Crocheted yarn, beads, wire, and cardboard.Image description: Bust sculpture of the artist from the shoulders up, constructed through multiple layers of pink crocheted yarn. The figure’s curly brown hair is pulled back into a bun and hanging curls behind the figure’s pierced ears. The slightly smiling figure wears a wire pair of glasses.
Deft, 2023. Crocheted yarn, polyester fiberfill, and wire.Image description: A stuffed crochet hand in white yarn. The fingers are articulated with visible palm lines. There are slightly visible bones on the back of the hand.
Figure, 2023. Crocheted yarn.Image description: A stuffed crochet standing torso with a neck, arms, and articulated legs crocheted in blue and green yarns of differing shades. The thighs, hips, and breasts are rounded and naturalistic.