Bernie Lieske

I’m calling my personal gallery within our show “Atlas’ Library.” Atlas is the name of my chameleon sculpture, with the name Atlas meaning “to endure,” echoing the theme of resilience. Making small booklets is an important part of art-making for me, so I’ve made four small booklets which compromise Atlas’ library. Throughout this library, I’ve found themes of grief and resilience, joy and heartache, connection and loss. Stories, relationships, and poetry are central to much of my art.

Relationships are at the core of who I am, as a person and as an art therapist. The past few years have focused on mothering and nurturing relationships and the tension and depth found there. I have better learned how to mother myself, how to nurture and care for myself. This strengthens and centers me, and, as I’ve found through doing my internship this past semester, is certainly essential for working as an art therapist. I often find myself working with the symbolic and cognitive levels of the expressive therapies continuum.

Ideally, at an in-person show, you would be able to pick up the booklets and look through them, maybe even taking one home. I’ve decided to include an image of all the booklets as well as all the pages from the booklet in one image, so that is how you will see this artwork. Thank you!

Atlas, to endure – ceramic chameleon

I had no clay experience coming into the program so I was required to take a few clay classes. I was okay at the wheel but loved hand building. Chameleons often change color to match their environment, however Atlas is stuck in the same color forever now. Color matching reminds me of people pleasing, and Atlas has come to remind me I don’t have to make others happy to stay connected with them. I can show my true colors, and my relationships will only deepen as a result.

Nature mandalas

Mandalas were something new to me in our program, and I’ve been drawn to the feelings of centering and groundedness I feel from them. Nature mandalas further incorporate a sense of my spirituality as I use repetition to guide me towards feelings of wholeness. Additionally, mandala making has become a vital coping skill for me when I feel anxious or panicked.

Belonging

My step-mom’s funeral was the first day of our first residency in the MAAT program. Our flights were cancelled coming home from the funeral so I ended up driving all night and day to get to residency for my first class. It was disorienting and a plunge into my new world of grad school. Dealing with her death and the death of others throughout the program has showed up in my art, as well as dealing with my own family and maternal issues. This work came out of dream work I did in our spirituality class, and I’m forever grateful I was able to process what was coming up in such a safe and beautiful way. Photos are of mothers from the public domain.

I’m still here

I made this my first semester of grad school. I can see reflections of my previous life (I could still see the shore behind me at that point), musing on my marriage, and a consistent drive to work out existential angst. Photos are from the public domain, taken of Georgia O’Keeffe by Alfred Stieglitz.

Joy rising

I love the stories created in these pieces. Collage and altered book making have become important to me, especially as I struggle to think of the right images to illustrate. I feel some sense of structure, and it gives me a safer place to begin artwork at times.