Mel Bernstine

Bernstine’s interest in emergent structures, the appearance of patterns and complexity from a multiplicity of relatively simple interactions, guides the creation of his work. The artist begins his paintings and drawings with discrete motifs. As the works progress, aspects of the process will suggest variations, leading to new discoveries and allowing compositions to emerge organically and intuitively.

Mel decribes his work as follows. “To paraphrase the deceased writer Christopher Hitchens, art is not something I do, it is who I am. Being in the middle of working on a piece is where I feel most comfortable. It’s the yellow brick road. A piece starts with an element which during the course of elaborating multiplies and the unfolding composition becomes something I am collaborating with. I am not in control, nor do I want to be. When I am in control the results are invariably bad. Sterile and rigid. I want to feel a bit like I am walking through a forest with only a partial trail. The trick is to be able to work on variations of an idea when I know, more or less, where it is all going, without being repetitive and hackneyed.

 Mel lives and works in Paris.