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As the 70’s blasted into
focus, it seemed that time stood still in the minds and hearts of these country
folk. Politics, technology, and simple evolution pulled metropolitan centres
into a new social consciousness. But,
this community resolutely rejected any "citified" ideas. They went right on
asserting that women in the workforce were the root-cause of male unemployment;
that someone should restrict Hutterite colonies from buying up significant
parcels of local farmland regardless of the size of their community; and that
rape victims must have somehow asked for it despite their age or circumstances.
Racism entwined with all that felt natural and was unnamed, uninhibited,
and unacknowledged by the overwhelming majority of white folks. Although
few gender differences were applied when it came to farm work (herding cows,
slopping pigs, digging up fields of potatoes, or driving tractors), it remained
a woman's job to take her husband's name, bear his children, work his land, cook
his food, wash his socks, and support him regardless of her own needs, desires,
or how
many times he might batter her. And, children? It was expected that they would remain seen and not
heard, even as
adults.
The tranquility of farm life
also supplied a clever façade for this isolated community that silently (yet,
by many, knowingly) colluded and condoned the sexual abuse of young children.
Some locals supplemented their income by working during the dark of
winter exploiting children-as-commodity in producing pornography and/or
providing prostitution. Needless to say, shortly after becoming a young parent,
Fox moved her own children a further thousand miles away to make Vancouver (BC)
their home.
By
the mid-80’s, Fox had refocused her career from working in film as a Producer
and Production Manager to providing professional support for victims of
violence. For more than a decade, she worked as an Educator, Consultant, and
Support Worker providing services to those who had experienced severe, prolonged
childhood trauma (including child pornography & prostitution) and
consultation to the professionals who counselled them. She lectured, facilitated
workshops for professionals, and provided educationally-formatted support groups
for individuals. Ultimately, this work brought her and these issues
international attention. Eventually, and perhaps more importantly, it re-ignited
her passion for more creative endeavours.
"Spoilage:
Mommy and Me Kit" 10.5" x 2"
An uncommon childhood leads to an
unconventional life. Such is Bernadine's life. She was a single mother to her
two girls and is now raising one of her granddaughter. She survived two battering relationships as a
young adult. She went from
heterosexual to lesbian to being "gloriously undefined." An interracial marriage (thirty years ago) led to a multi-cultural family.
She is a survivor of sexual
abuse and child pornography. She has
lived through poverty and is a social activist when it comes to equality and
stopping abuse inflicted on women and children. In her work with survivors, she
stood up to one segment of organized crime and, therefore, dealt with ongoing
harassment and death threats from a variety of despicable folks including a few
sketchy police officers who inherently are a part of the territory of
corruption. She emerged a strong, independent individual who makes no apologies
for what she has survived. Emotionally, Bernadine learned to rely on her ability
to produce art, to
make images, and to relate complex ideas and narratives in simple,
straightforward ways. Her work and, naturally, her art aptly reflect her
life. She now makes art for and about women and their lives.
Fox
has won numerous awards for
her art and a provincial award for her writing. Throughout college, she was awarded several
scholarships. She
obtained  a BFA from the Emily Carr University (formerly ECIAD) in Vancouver, BC
where she studied both drawing and animation (classical and computer). She also
trained at the Alberta College of Art and Design and Douglas College in BC.
After graduating, Fox worked as a Film Producer/Production Manager for both film
and animation projects including Johnny Quest, the Care Bears, Mattel, Expo 86,
and a variety of TV commercials, documentaries, and feature films. She has
volunteered her expertise on the Boards of various art organizations including
Women in Focus, CARFAC,
BC and the Society
for Disability Arts & Culture (host for the (2001) International
kickstART Festival in Vancouver,
BC). She is the past National Representative for CARFAC BC and is currently a
member and a signatory to the Canadian
Artists Representation Copyright Collective. She is a member of various art
organizations in Canada including MAWA and is an
Active Member of the Federation of Canadian Artists.
Bernadine teaches drawing and has developed classes for individuals who are
able-bodied and those who have a range of physical challenges. Most recently,
she has begun to curate both national and international exhibitions such as
Heroes for Kickstart and
Drawn, Draw, Drawing for the Drawn Festival in Vancouver.
(above left) Bernadine Fox painting in
studio and (above right) Bernadine Fox 2009 photo by David Cooper courtesy
of DTES Heart of the City Festival)
Bernadine
regular donates her expertise, time, and art to support the lives of women and
children and to develop innovative programs that support artists. She
has facilitated the West Coast Mental
Health Network’s Expressive Arts Group since 2007. She is a part of a group of women artists who created The
Retro Show in Vancouver in the fall of 2010 which is a unique art show that
allowed artists to pull their older works out of storage offering them for sale.
Fox researched the viability of a mentorship program in BC for CARFAC
members. She has volunteered her
time at Gallery Gachet, an artist-run centre
dedicated to supporting artists marginalized by mental health and/or trauma
experiences where she has taught drawing in the DTES, put on life-drawing
opportunities, curated art exhibits, participated in a group that published the
premier issue of The
Ear, participated in their outreach into the community, coached their
collective members on the business of art, and submitted her work for art
exhibits. Although not a Collective
Member, she is proud to be an Associate Member of this gallery and help support
their mandate. Bernadine, in
conjunction with Heaven Tree Gallery in Vancouver, organized and produced The
Muse, an evening of culture-created-by-women. The event included an art exhibit, spoken word, musical and live-theatre
and boasted of "standing-room-only” within an hour of opening the doors.
She has also volunteered her expertise at putting people and ideas
together with the Heart of the City
Festival and CARFAC BC, providing
much needed access to information on the business of being an artist and
copyright. Currently,
she is one of the primary organizers of a new organization in the Pacific
Northwest that will support and promote women in the arts.
"Your
paintings were gifted with a delicacy of light and shadows that webbed the
simple into a complex narrative of
reflections and colour,
I
truly admired your paintings!"
Edmond
W. at PHS and Interurban Gallery
Bernadine
at her Not My Love(r) Exhibition. Photo
by Ray Van Eng Vancouver21.com
Bernadine’s
art practice started in a very traditional manner: painting oil on canvas.
Uncharacteristically, it also began at the tender age of ten years. Her family was no stranger to professional artists as her great, great,
uncle was the renowned Timothy Cole, a printmaker who worked in wood blocks
replicating the old master’s work in Europe for publication in print medias.
 Throughout the years, her work has naturally evolved into an
expressionist/post-impressionist style. She starts with a black canvas and then
she paints how the sun meanders around a banana, or how light unearths the shape of
the glass jar, or how it informs the viewer of the feel and texture
of a wicker basket.
(left) Not
My Love(r): Georgia on My Mind 18" x 54"
"Parts
of your paintings make me think of how colours might be in heaven."
"The realism ... connects with some emotional memory I carry." Daniel
She
uses bright colours, often right from the tube, as she highlights and brings to
the foreground the feel of what she is painting. During a recent Eastside
Culture Crawl, one little boy burst into her studio and squealed in
excitement “I want to eat that!” pointing
to her tomatoes in “Ain’t No Sunshine.” (right
below) Not My Love(r): Ain't No
Sunshine 35" x 33"
Those
who collect her art into private collections and those who view it at exhibits describe being moved by her use of bold and
vivid colours in
images that provoke emotions. People have said the paintings make them
"happy" and that they have been moved to tears or into a state of awe.
It is not uncommon for folks to approach her a year or more later to
express how one of her exhibitions
or pieces had left a lasting impression. The
words most often used in comments are "reverberating, astounding,
mesmerizing, joyous, unsettling AND beautiful, happy, intellectually
stimulating,
strong, vibrant, delicious, powerful, disturbing, inspiring," and "bold."
Her
collage work has a graphic and clean edge to it: crisp
in its delivery and message. Her
most recent series of collage/mixed media assemblage pieces is a series
entitled: Family Px – Exploring the Personalities of a Dissociative System.
These are completely fictionalized “portraits” of
common personality-types found in those individuals who have (DID) Dissociative Identity Disorder formerly known as Multiple
Personalities). She begins
with a photo and digitally alters it to subtract information
(i.e., backgrounds, additional people) and add layers of texture, words, and
objects. She prints this image using
archival inks and papers and then this becomes the basis for her collage. When she is done the collage, she begins to assemble it with other items
in a
shadow box frame. (below) Family Px:
Exploring the Personalities of a Dissociative System (Verena).
"I
was totally moved to tears, in awe astounded and mesmerized. Thank you so
much! I am forever indebted to you."
Robyn L.
Bernadine
commonly works in
sets or series that have
a common theme, thread, or message and augments that with an artist statement.
Although,
she hopes that her audience will bring their own ideas and interpretations to
the work, these artist statements are meant to add
another dimension to the work. For
the same reason, she wants her work to be accessible and understood by the
mainstream. She chooses not to employ elite artspeak but instead prefers to use open
and approachable language.
"Marvellous.
Stunning. Powerful. Great Work. The style is simple, sincere and unpretentious
which presents an agreeable aura with genuinely pleasing imagery for us to look
at twice." Jonathan Rogers
As
a teacher, Bernadine has one simple philosophy: everyone should and can
draw. Engaging in a creative endeavour has been scientifically proven to
have a profound impact on our emotional and physical health to the degree that,
in Bernadine's opinion, it ought to be prescribed along with vitamins, yoga, or exercise. With a
few simple techniques and tricks, one's drawing ability can be dramatically
improved. Bernadine sets out in each drawing class to impart these within a simple
easy going, relaxed atmosphere. So why teach drawing as opposed to
collage, mixed media, or painting? Because drawing requires the least amount of art materials and
it can be
done practically anywhere and often at any time. Bernadine has taught drawing for the
last fifteen years in community centres, in the DTES as a drop-in, and in her
own private studio.
“…thank
you for giving me the courage to continue with my art and to see things in my
“mistakes” and make them work for me. Thank you for opening my life to art, an opening I always craved and one
that I will never again starve for in my lifetime.” Kim G.
When
considering her audience and her customers, Bernadine focuses on two areas of
her art: the quality of the workmanship and the accessibility of the art
itself. If there is one consistent quality in all that Bernadine produces
whether it is her art, her writing, a course she has developed, or an exhibition
she has curated, it is professional excellence. She uses archival
materials and gallery/museum standards. As she continues to build the body
of her work, Bernadine is always pushing herself to elevate the
level of professionalism and/or technical quality of her work while honing her
skill and technique in painting, mixed media assemblage or whatever genre she
chooses to employ.
(Left - Theresa: Cover of Westender 2001)
Accessibility
is the second major concern for Bernadine. Art is a powerful form of
language that Bernadine strongly believes belongs to everyone.
And, therefore, it must art be accessible.
Too often contemporary art has
become an elite exercise appreciated only by gallery owners, art collectors, art
critiques, and other artists. Often
it requires studying art history and/or contemporary art practices.
This excludes huge numbers of individuals.
Bernadine seeks to critically-engage her audience with her work.
She forgoes referencing privileged knowledge and like the impressionists
and post-impressionists of the nineteenth century, makes art for and about the
common wo/man. She is not
concerned with how her work fits into the historical context of art, but how it
maintains a connection to and carries a relevance for contemporary wo/man.
Bernadine’s art can take complex material/narrative and simplify it hoping to
inspire dialogue, interaction and reflection. Another area where
accessibility is an issue is that original art often carries a hefty price
tag. Bernadine consciously endeavours to produce work along a wide price
range so that more of her customers can afford original art in their homes.
Bernadine Fox's studio during Eastside Cultural
Crawl 2010 photo by: Colin Beiers
Bernadine
Fox’s work continues to garner increasing attention in the last several years and is
now held in private collections across North America including New York,
Toronto, Los Angeles, Calgary and Vancouver. She has exhibited throughout
Canada in a variety of venues from solo, two-person and group exhibitions to
commercial galleries, artist-run centres along with juried and curated
exhibitions. Her work has been accepted into preview shows
for ECC including one at the PNE Home Improvement Building. She lives in East Vancouver where she
hangs out with her daughter (Wendy), raises her granddaughter (Avy), lives with Dan (the love of her life), and works out of the Williams
Clark Studios.
“Thank
you for putting colour and joy into my day!"
Pollod
Bernadine Fox 2009 (photo by Valerie Arntzen)
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