Artist’s Statement | I question what it means to have a body and how we occupy the bodies we have. My work makes tangible the physical and psychological sensations I feel within my body and describe the relationship I have with it. I feel a dissociation from my body that I explore through organic materials and imagery, which serve as metaphors for the emotional and physical matter beneath my skin. The dripping imagery, hair, fruit flesh, and fabric take the place of what could be my stomach, muscles, growths inside my body, or skin.

My process subjects my materials to stress and trauma but also indicates playfulness and careful craftsmanship. Through this work, I remember that my body has the capacity not only to receive abuse and pain, but to inflict these as well. I burn, cut, pierce, and tear these pieces but will then take the time, through drawing and sewing, to mend and heal the pain I’ve caused.

Each work has a body all its own, laced with distinct memories, experiences, and sensations.

I find artistic influence through abject art, specifically artists such as Kiki Smith, Sarah Lucas, and Eva Hesse. However, my pieces come from more than pushing the boundaries of what we consider socially “normal.” I am heavily influenced by nature and our human relationships to the environments in which we live. My work questions what it means to have a body, as well as what it means to live in a world surrounded by other bodies. I combine multiple forms of printmaking, as well as printmaking combined with sculpture or painting, to keep my work in flux. My work is ever-changing, and allowing it to move and exist through different media reminds me of our ephemerality and our infinite potential for growth. 

Stephanie Berrie is an artist from Dayton, Ohio. She completed her BFA at the Columbus College of Art and Design in 2015 and her MFA at Texas Tech University in 2019. She is currently the Senior Lab Associate of the printmaking lab and part-time print professor at the University of Cincinnati. Berrie has also been an artist-in-residence at the Charles Adams Studio Project in Lubbock, Texas, and is currently Tiger Lily Press’s Annual Working Artist in Cincinnati, Ohio. When she’s not busy making weird prints and paintings, you can find her singing cat-inspired remixes of classic 80s hits.