By Jenny Zeller
“Living and working at Bernheim Forest has allowed a childlike wonder and sense of adventure to re-emerge from me. I think it shows in the experimental and spontaneous works I have been creating while living here. There are shapes, textures, and techniques that have emerged since being here, and that shows just how refreshed and inspired I have been feeling as of late.” ~ Edwin Ramirez
Edwin Ramirez is a Chicano, queer, multimedia artist working and residing in Louisville, Kentucky who creates wearable sculptural works inspired by the shapes, textures, systems, colors, and cycles of our planet’s biomes and the various flora and fauna that inhabit them.
Ramirez is one of our 2024 Artists in Residence and has been at Bernheim since early July, totally immersing himself in all that the natural world has to offer. This experience has inspired a couture collection of wearable pieces influenced by the mosses, lichens, slime molds, insects, and creatures that live in and around Lake Nevin’s waters. Rameriz is featuring these works at his first solo runway show during the Dark Castle Fest at Art Sanctuary in Louisville on Saturday, September 28 entitled Of Limestone, Chlorophyll, and Bones.
The public has a chance to meet Edwin Ramirez and see his works in progress at CONNECT on August 17 at the Lakeside Studio along the Lake Nevin Loop! Don’t miss this unique opportunity to engage with the artist and discover how fashion can be wildly influenced by the natural world.
“Since arriving at Bernheim Forest, I feel as though I have been able to connect with the land in ways I have not experienced in a very long time. To witness the ebb and flow of the days and nights as they pass by, to observe and listen to the countless lives being lived in the trees and the lakes, to actually feel like I am part of the cyclical nature of this forest and be intentionally present…that is something I wasn’t expecting from this experience, and that is truly special.”
