Bernheim’s Arts in Nature team is proud to announce the addition of 2024 Artist in Residence Edwin Ramirez’s wearable art masterpiece, The Golden Hour, to our permanent collection. The piece comes from Ramirez’s Bernheim-inspired couture series, Of Limestone, Chlorophyll, and Bones, which debuted at the Dark Castle Fest runway show in Louisville in 2024.
Reflecting on his residency, Ramirez shared how his time at Bernheim shaped both the collection and his personal connection to nature:
Reflections from Edwin Ramirez
In the summer of 2024, I was selected as a regional artist in residence at Bernheim Forest. During the two months I lived there, I was able to connect with the land I stood on in ways I had not experienced in many years.
Physically, mentally, and ultimately through my art, this experience pushed me and inspired me in ways I will cherish and reference throughout my lifetime.
There is a certain kind of magic and privilege when you are able to truly immerse yourself in the world directly around you. Quieting the hustle and bustle of everyday stressors, ignoring emails, and falling into the natural circadian rhythm of my own body’s sleep cycle felt overwhelming at first. But it soon allowed me to develop a profound appreciation for each day—observing and living alongside the trees, their inhabitants, and the people I met.
The frogs, the turtles, the dragonflies, and even the questionable goose encounters became part of my everyday life. I welcomed many elderly couples and families with children into the artist studio as a respite from the extreme afternoon heat. In the process, I learned more about myself than they probably learned about my practice.
As the park closed, there were many evenings when I shed tears during the sunset. Beautiful experiences often bring many feelings to the surface, but I didn’t spend much time questioning why I felt the way I did—I simply let myself feel them. This golden hour moved me deeply. It wasn’t that I had never experienced it before, but that I had never allowed myself to truly see it as an adult. Each day’s transition from light to dark felt like a gift.
I am grateful I was also able to share some of those evenings with my dogs and my husband, which made the experience even more profound and deeply ingrained in my memory.
On the darkest nights, when it rained, the forest came to life with sounds and rustling outside the cabin and the artist’s studio. I braved the trails many nights alone—at first with my heart pounding out of my chest, and later with a calm understanding that there was nothing to fear as I walked with my dogs in the dark.
It was exhilarating to turn off my headlamp and let the forest engulf me. The inky blackness created strange shapes in my vision, while I focused on the rhythm of my footsteps, my breathing, and at times my own heartbeat. At first it terrified me, but after a few nights I began to feel part of it, as if I too was shapeshifting in the dark. Although I couldn’t see my hands in front of me, I felt comforted knowing there was still a lush world all around.
These are just some of the experiences that shaped the work I made at Bernheim. Most of them ended up in my first runway collection, which I titled Of Limestone, Chlorophyll, and Bones.
The strongest pieces I created were made during this residency, and I believe they speak for themselves. It was incredible—almost mind-blowing—how productive I became, how quickly I was able to experiment with both old and new mediums, and how naturally I created works I hadn’t planned for or thought I could make. Even a year later, these remain some of my strongest works.
What started as a challenge became a journey of finding myself, expressed through wearable works of art. I am grateful for the other artists and models—friends—who helped bring these pieces to life on the runway. And, of course, I am deeply grateful to Bernheim Forest for having me as a guest.
There is real, raw, and ancient power in the world right outside our doors. But there is something uniquely special about the Kentucky wilderness. I now know that connecting with the land and allowing yourself to be part of it, can bring out the best in all of us.
Experience The Golden Hour
The Golden Hour is now on permanent display in the Sassafras Room at Bernheim’s Visitor Center, where it continues to embody the deep connections between art, nature, and human experience.
