Bernard goes to Brown

Whereas a carelessly drawn spiral on the edge of your notebook is nothing more than absent-minded doodling, the spirals drawn by Philip Bernard are only the beginnings of a whole artistic experience.

He creates the base spirals of each piece with only a simple mechanical pencil. In this step, the artwork takes on a life of its own, lacking any defined shape, pattern or direction. The initial creation is then traced several times with charcoal and oil pastels, while retaining the design and sense of motion of the original conception.

A 1997 graduate of the Duke Master of Arts and Liberal Studies program, Bernard has been creating installation series for over two and a half decades. In the last two years, the Raleigh artist has developed and begun experimenting with the new technique called "spiraling."

"It is somewhat reminiscent of Jackson Pollock's drip paintings, in that the swirling creation of the spirals is the real work of art, and the drawings that are left are the remnants," Bernard said in an e-mail. "The installation becomes a performance."

In the span of one day, Bernard will create an entire installation specifically for the Brown Gallery, located in the upper floor of the Bryan Center. Installation art in its purest form attempts to engage all five senses through motion and patterning to create a truly visceral experience for the observer. Often simulating movement through time and space, Bernard's art defies the constraints of simple color and paper by creating a complete sensory experience for viewers. The spirals themselves simply flow--a living, breathing work of art that produces not only visual interest, but emotional sensation as well.

His inspiration stems from a variety of sources, spanning from his present mood to his creative use of fictional scripting to visualize people spiraling out of control. On a base level his pieces resemble natural phenomena---smoke, clouds, even cyclones. However, Bernard says his art also appeals on a much deeper emotional level with allusions to abandonment, shame and, ultimately, spiritual renewal.

Bernard's art will be featured at the Brown Art Gallery in the Bryan Center from Sept. 5 to Oct. 11.