| Artist | Larysa Bernhardt | Resides | United States |
| Website | larysabernhardt.com | Medium | Textile Mixed Media |
| Follow the Artist | Instagram | Facebook | [email protected] | |
| Themes | Allegorical Storytelling Exploring ancestral roots Connecting past and present through traditionally domestic labor |
About the artist
Larysa Bernhardt was born in Ukraine and moved to United States in her thirties. Her skill of textile smithing was passed down through the generations on the maternal side of her family, which she honed by years of working in the fashion industry. Disappointed by “disposable fashion” trends – and having huge respect for the incredible amount of work and resources that goes into creating beautiful fabrics made with organic materials – she resigned herself from the fashion industry and set on the path of creating textile sculptures and wall hangings showcasing vintage and antique tapestries and velvet’s, often embellished with her hand embroidery and beading. She taps into the ancient techniques of stumpwork and appliqué for her unique vision of textile storytelling, which delves into the way she perceives the world and the feminine presence in it.
Artwork Themes & Subject Matter
Larysa Bernhardt has been collecting vintage and antique textiles for decades, checking them for moths obsessively. It made her think – what is the moth’s tireless search for the light in dark places but the perfect allegory for humanity? Human life is short but human stories persist. At the end we will all become stories – I think Margaret Atwood said this.
In her work Larysa attempts to weave silky threads of the ephemeral into the eternal, webbing together stories already told and the ones that still needing telling. Creating a dream within a dream, her personal universe where time isn’t linear and everything happens simultaneously – past, present, and future.
Press
Larysa Bernhardt’s creations have been featured in notable magazines and online sources including Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, Visionary Art Collective, In Her Studio Magazine, What Women Create Magazine, Colossal, DeMilked.
Upcoming Exhibition
| When | Exhibition | Gallery |
| July 2024 | Group exhibition: “Rx” | Quirky Fox Gallery Taranaki, New Zealand |
| September 2024 | Group exhibition: “The Journey of Life” | Homo Faber Venice, Italy |
| November 2024 | Solo exhibition: Yet to be announced | Beinart Gallery Melbourne, Australia |
| November 2024 | Group exhibition: “Paracosmic Escape” curated by Beautiful Bizarre Magazine with Musonium Gallery | Modern Eden Gallery San Francisco, CA. USA |
| December 2025 | Solo exhibition: Yet to be announced | Haven Gallery Northport, NY. USA |
CV
Education
Growing up in Ukrainian industrial town under Soviet regime Larysa had no access to formal art education and this is the only narrative method available to her. She uses ancestral art mediums to tell stories that she can’t find words for. Her work is autobiographical because she had to invent her own symbolic language of storytelling, something touchable yet immersive, language understood by heart.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2023
My Heart is a Wild Garden, Haven Gallery, Northport, NY. United States
2021
Hortus Conclusus, Haven Gallery, Northport, NY. United States
2020
Wanderlust of the Mind, Haven Gallery, Northport, NY. United States
Quantrelle, Haven Gallery, Northport, NY. United States
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024
Yokai, Haven Gallery, Northport, NY. United States
12th anniversary exhibition Arch Enemy Arts, Philadelphia, PA. United States
The Year of the Dragon, Modern Eden Gallery, San Francisco, CA. United States
2023
Sculpture Garden, Modern Eden, San Francisco, CA. United States
Daydream, Beinart Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2022
Mighty, Modern Eden Gallery, San Francisco, CA. United States
Deep Waters, Quirky Fox Gallery, Taranaki, New Zealand
Morte, Mortal Machine Gallery, New Orleans, LA. United States
2021
Lore, Modern Eden Gallery, San Francisco, CA. United States
Nivalis, Arch Enemy Arts, Philadelphia, PA. United States
Time Carriage, Mortal Machine Gallery, New Orleans, LA. United States
Shakespearean, Haven Gallery, Northport, NY. United States
