Step Into the Light: Alex Bernstein and Mitchell Lonas
Using carved glass and incised aluminum, Alex Bernstein and Mitchell Lonas respectively create intimate narratives which, unlike the cold, hard materials they use, soften as gestural qualities and subject matter are revealed. Key to both artists' work is light. Light energizes and brings their work to life, enhancing color, form and imagery. While Lonas etches his shimmering stylized trees, feathers, nests, waterfalls and animals from aluminum panels coated in matte black, Bernstein carves and polishes colorful, translucent cast glass to unveil abstract sculptures inspired by the natural world.
Bernstein received his BA degree from the University of North Carolina and his MFA degree from Rochester Institute of Technology (NY). He has been the head of the glass department at the Worcester Center for Crafts (MA) and taught at the Cleveland Institute of Art (OH), Rochester Institute of Technology (NY), the studio at the Corning Museum of Glass (NY), Penland School of Crafts (NC) and Pilchuck Glass School (WA). His work is in collections throughout the U.S. and abroad. Bernstein currently works from his studio in Western North Carolina.
A Tennessee native, Lonas studied art history at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, and was for many years a respected portrait painter before transitioning to his current style. His work has been widely exhibited and is featured in notable private, public, institutional, and corporate collections, among them a series of large-scale commissions for Nordstrom department stores. Lonas currently works from his studio in Asheville, North Carolina.
