Artist Statement

I am heavily influenced by nature and our human relationships with 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 feel a dissociation with my body that is explored through organic materials and imagery, which serve as metaphors for the emotional and physical matter beneath my skin. I combine multiple forms of printmaking, as well as printmaking with sculpture or painting to keep my work in a flux, fluid state. My work is ever-changing, and allowing it to move and exist through different media reminds me of our ephemerality and infinite potential for growth. 

The natural world has been prevalent in my art for many years; I’ve always had a fascination with plants, animals, ecosystems, microcosmos, and the ethereal beauty the creatures of our world encapsulate. These fascinations come to life in my work through drawing the fine hair of an opossum, printing the impressions of actual hair and feathers, magnifying the tiny veins of a plant, and using vibrant tropical colors in my plant sculptures. I bring to light in my art things that might be overlooked, by emphasizing fine detail, utilizing hidden elements, and bringing beauty to gruesome imagery. Whether I’m memorializing and giving new life to the death of a neighborhood species, or enlarging the microscopic inner workings of a leaf into vibrant, sculptural blooms, the natural world and all its cycles will continue to play an integral role in my work. I want my audience to pause and take a moment to view these pieces, to hopefully gain a new perspective on the “mundane” ecosystems of their backyards, seeing the small and subtle beauty of the world around us.

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 Printmaking Lab Manager at the University of Cincinnati and part-time print professor. Berrie additionally owns and runs her own printmaking studio in Northern Kentucky, Wild Berries Press. She has also been an artist in residence at the Charles Adams Studio Project in Lubbock, Texas and was Tiger Lily’s Annual Working Artist in Cincinnati, Ohio from 2020-2021. She has exhibited her printmaking work all across the nation, primarily in the Southwestern, Midwestern, and Eastern states and is an active member of the Mid America Print Council.