BARBARA BERRY
“Nature has always been an important subject and inspiration in my art. My goal is to express the vivid, living quality of the natural world, as well as highlight the innate connections and tensions that exist between human beings and the larger environment. My paintings, woodcarvings and drawings combine imagery from nature; animals, plants, birds and the human figure; with imagery from Tibetan Buddhist murals and paintings. Some of the works are based directly on the lives of Buddhist saints. Other works are inspired by various deities in the Tibetan pantheon, some peaceful some wrathful. I am particularly interested in female deities and goddesses called dakinis. The dakini is also related to broader creative and destructive energies of nature and the universe.
Over the years, my art has explored themes of impermanence, memory, change, healing, rebirth, regeneration and dreams. I attempt to express the momentary shifts in our lives and demonstrate the constant ongoing dance in which all living beings are involved. Ultimately, my artwork is an attempt to reconcile and connect the physical world with the spiritual world. I am interested in ordinary visual perception juxtaposed to interior visual perception and how the two overlap and mingle. My work explores the pure physical act of sight and the visionary quality of going beyond the sense perceptions into the realm of imagination and visualization.” — Barbara Berry
Barbara was born in Denver Colorado. She earned a BFA at the Parsons School of Design (1981) in New York City and an MFA (1984) from the University of Colorado at Boulder. After living in Boston for four years, she moved to Nova Scotia in 1989. She has exhibited extensively in Canada and the United States. Her works have been purchased by the Nova Scotia Art Bank and the Canada Council Art Bank. In 2009 Berry received a Creation Grant from the Nova Scotia Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture, for a project entitled “Vision/Ex’Voto.” From 2004 to 2013 Berry was a Regular Part Time Instructor in the Foundation Department at NSCAD. She currently lives and works from her studio on the South Shore of Nova Scotia.