By Jenny Zeller
Bernheim’s Artist in Residence program attracts both emerging and established artists on a regional, national and international level. Over the past 40+ years we have had the pleasure of working with 60 resident artists from 10 different countries, by elevating the creation of new work that establishes deep connections to the natural world through the Bernheim landscape. These experiences and the work made through the program can create endless positive ripples into individual art communities around the globe, some with far-reaching effects. The work of multidisciplinary artist and 2021 Artist in Residence Anne Peabody is an extraordinary example that demonstrates the reach of Bernheim’s unique residency program. A few short weeks prior to the start of her residency, Peabody was commissioned to create a monumental glass artwork for the Paris headquarters of fashion house DIOR, and they approved her installation idea that the work would be based on drawings and photographs she made while in residence at Bernheim!
“I have had a residency at Bernheim on my bucket list since seeing the breathtaking paintings my high school art teacher, Madison Cawein made as a 1993 Artist in Residence. Those paintings helped solidify my desire to be an artist and Madison recommended Bernheim as the ultimate place to be alone in nature and concentrate on creating.”
Anne Peabody makes correlations between the human condition and the natural world, inspired by scenes and stories from her childhood home of Kentucky. She employs a variety of materials, including wood, glass, and metal, to expand and evolve a body of landscape-based art that includes installation, performance, sculpture, drawing, and textiles. For over a decade Peabody has drawn and painted with precious metals – silver, gold and platinum – behind clear sheets of glass. She has developed her own technique of reverse foil painting (verre églomisé), a practice glass historians have traced back to the 13th century. Most of Peabody’s paintings on glass depict the beauty and complexity of the natural world, with a reflectivity that invites the viewer to be an active participant with the work. Final images evoke a dreamlike, otherworldly presence, similar to the landscape paintings created during the late 18th century Romanticism art movement, but with a contemporary approach that connects us to the here and now.
“Christian Dior also drew his inspiration from the gardens and landscapes of his youth; his clothing silhouettes were famously inspired by botanical anatomy. When I approached Dior about creating my installation based on scenes from my Bernheim residency, they were thrilled with the idea.”
DIOR is allowing Peabody to show preliminary images of the commissioned work in progress but we will have to wait on seeing the finished piece until after the installation, which will take place in early 2022. We can also share that the work was inspired by the dense, thick, sea of green that our forest exhibits during the humid months of summer. In addition to the DIOR commission, Peabody plans a 2022 Bernheim return for making a site-specific land art installation inspired by founder and visionary Isaac W. Bernheim’s foresight of the land and colorful history of the area. We promise to keep you informed of these exciting details moving forward!
Anne Peabody was raised in Kentucky and currently lives and works in New York City. Peabody has participated in major international group exhibitions and museum shows including, Glasstress: State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia, Unbreakable: Women in Glass, Fondazione Berengo, Murano, Italy, It’s Happening, Central Park, New York City, USA, Millesgarden Museum, Stockholm, Sweden, and the 53rd and 54th Venice Biennales.
In 2012 Glass Quarterly named Peabody among the 50 Artists Whose Work in Glass Will Be Most Important in the Next 50 Years. Her work is held in permanent public collections in the US, Europe, Russia, the Middle East, and Asia including 21c Museums, Boodai Corp, BP, DIOR, Fondazione Berengo, The Kentucky Center, and Memorial Sloan Kettering. Her work has been critically reviewed in The New York Times, Art News, Art in America, The Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, Glass Quarterly, and Hyperallergic, among others.
The Artist in Residence program has attracted artists from around the world who seek to use Bernheim as their inspiration. Established in 1980, this internationally renowned program annually awards artists the opportunity to live and create site-specific work inspired by their total immersion experience in the natural environment. Work created through the program allows our visitors to connect with nature in new and exciting ways.