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I explore strength and beauty, transparency and movement through the interplay of metal with traditional fiber techniques. Material and Process are the heart of my work. But it is the dualities and seeming contradictions inherent in my work – Domestic and Industrial; Soft and Hard; Looking At and Looking Through; Positive and Negative Space; Reflections and Shadows – that animate my sculptures.

I created “Lace Twelve: Oskar Schlemmer’s Dancer” for a 2019 exhibition celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Bauhaus. Using a 16th century Bobbin Lace stitch with stainless steel wire, I made a flat ribbon of lace, 3” wide x 15 feet long, which I then curled, looped and sewed together into a 3-dimensional form.

Quite serendipitously, that form, with its implied and actual movement through space, evokes the choreography and costumes of Oskar Schlemmer – head of the Bauhaus’ theatre department, best known for his “The Triadic Ballet”.

Barbara M. Berk

Barbara@BarbaraBerkDesigns.com