Trent Berning
Trent Berning resides in Fallbrook CA. He currently teaches ceramics at MiraCosta College, Palomar College, Grossmont College, and Fallbrook School of the Arts. He spends his free time in his studio where he also runs the Berning Clay Gallery, a gallery filled with his and his wife Kelly Berning’s works.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My work is a celebration of the mysteries and magic of life. In my attempt to capture the awe and wonderment of the human body and the human experience, I take a playfully primal, if not naïve look at the mechanics of the body; creating surreal inspired compositions that express the inscrutability of life.
If you were to explain the mechanics of the human body to a child, what mental images would that child see? Rotator cuffs might become gears, perhaps the digestive system becomes a factory, or a pelvic bone could take on the characteristics of a butterfly. Then the question of what is beyond the structural bones; does our physiological self aid in defining who we are? The figurative references are then juxtaposed with optical illusions to imply the enigma of life. Although instinctual about the imagery I use, I also incorporate more mature themes and comments on the fortuitous creation of life.
Ancient perfume bottles inspire many of my forms. The highly ornamented tops explode from the vessels to imply growth, conception, and rebirth. The loose, scratchy and gestural natures of my renderings are meant to release the energy of the clay, giving a sense of thought in process. There is a playful randomness to the renderings. This visceral approach to the clay allows me to show my love of the material by revealing its natural beauty.
I find the function of the body and the experience of living to be a great ambiguous adventure. This adventure does not necessarily need to be explained but relished through the magic of living. I enjoy the idea of the unknown, to allow my imagination to fill in the blanks between how and why.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My work is a celebration of the mysteries and magic of life. In my attempt to capture the awe and wonderment of the human body and the human experience, I take a playfully primal, if not naïve look at the mechanics of the body; creating surreal inspired compositions that express the inscrutability of life.
If you were to explain the mechanics of the human body to a child, what mental images would that child see? Rotator cuffs might become gears, perhaps the digestive system becomes a factory, or a pelvic bone could take on the characteristics of a butterfly. Then the question of what is beyond the structural bones; does our physiological self aid in defining who we are? The figurative references are then juxtaposed with optical illusions to imply the enigma of life. Although instinctual about the imagery I use, I also incorporate more mature themes and comments on the fortuitous creation of life.
Ancient perfume bottles inspire many of my forms. The highly ornamented tops explode from the vessels to imply growth, conception, and rebirth. The loose, scratchy and gestural natures of my renderings are meant to release the energy of the clay, giving a sense of thought in process. There is a playful randomness to the renderings. This visceral approach to the clay allows me to show my love of the material by revealing its natural beauty.
I find the function of the body and the experience of living to be a great ambiguous adventure. This adventure does not necessarily need to be explained but relished through the magic of living. I enjoy the idea of the unknown, to allow my imagination to fill in the blanks between how and why.