Jenny Bernsten | Artist Statement

Hello, I am Jenny Lula Berntsen, an emerging sculptor working in clay and paper. I am very interested in expanding my knowledge to stone. Through form, rhythm and scale I see not only a lump of clay or stone, but a world within. For example one day, in the way some clothes were piled on a chair, I saw an old woman with a furrowed brow, deep in thought, looking out the window. She was remarkably alive and present. This was a sculpture that required my awareness to see. She was there, and a pile of clothes were there as well. There is this hidden world which is to be discovered through a particular medium. Whether it is a face within fabric, or the multiplicity of limbs within Buddhist sculptures. Working in sculpture allows me to question the solidity of what I take for absolute. I appreciate the commitment to working reductively and seeing a story within each work, and believe this approach will be best explored in stone. I have had the good fortune of seeing first hand at ABC Stone’s warehouse in Brooklyn, the various possibilities of material and would be thrilled to be part of the collaboration. I admire Stephen Shaheen’s sense of form and mastery of material, and I particularly enjoy his biomorphic sense of form. I am dedicated to learning the intricacies and challenges of working with marble, and am at a stage in my career where exposure to the Carrara Residency will bring wonderful rewards and further my adventure in sculpture.

Jenny Lula Berntsen

50 Wooster St 4NR

New York, NY 10013

(401) 239 -9647

jenny.berntsen@student.nyaa.edu

Jenny Bernsten | Portfolio