The Verve: Vielbig captures ‘flock mentality’
A chicken is just a chicken. Or is it?
In artist Bernadette Vielbig’s creations, chickens are a lot like humans. “It’s a flock mentality. There are the rogues, the leaders and the followers,” she said. Chickens, as well as her other works of art, often illustrate her observations of human nature.
Her newest work, which will be displayed at the Lorinda Knight Gallery, 523 W. Sprague Ave., through June 28, is called “The Pecking Order” and was inspired by a chicken she saw in the window of a country kitchenware store in England.
“I have sort of a love/hate relationship with chickens because I was raised on a farm,” she said, “They’re a good vehicle of imagery.”
She has been working on “The Pecking Order” for quite a while, making hundreds of chickens to perfect her glazing techniques and finding objects to incorporate into her chicken designs and bring fruition to her ideas. Found objects are her forte, and the mixed-media creations include an old record player, river wood, and a food dispenser that she filled with “medication” where the chickens saddle up to the mood enhancers.
Vielbig works out of an old garage on her Peaceful Valley property, which is filled with bits and pieces of this and that. She doesn’t specialize in any one medium. Rather, she mixes her abilities to cast metals and make molds, and she utilizes glass, ceramics and found objects.
“It’s about giving voice to the inanimate objects of the world,” she said.
Vielbig grew up in California where she said she gained a work ethic, made do and played hard. She would make patterns out of sticks and pile things up. “I played with a purpose, and when people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would tell them, ‘I am an artist.’ ” She was always making something.
Her mother was a creative sort, and when Vielbig would ask questions like “how do peanuts grow,” her mother would plant peanuts, harvest them and make peanut butter.
Vielbig received a bachelor’s degree in studio art from Humboldt State University and was awarded an Master of Fine Arts in sculpture from Louisiana State University.
A prolific artist, Vielbig has exhibited widely in museums and galleries throughout the U.S., including the Kohler Arts/Industry Center for the Arts in Wisconsin, the Chrysler Museum of Art in Virginia, the Contemporary Art Center in New Orleans, the Shaw Center for the Arts in Baton Rouge, and the Ink People Center for the Arts in California.
In 2002-03, Vielbig served as artist in residence at Central Michigan University and then moved to Spokane to join the art faculty at Spokane Falls Community College as a teacher of sculpture, drawing and design. In 2004 Vielbig was a recipient of a Washington State Artist Trust GAP grant.
Vielbig believes in the value of art and its ability to speak to a viewer.
“This current collection is my least offensive,” she said, “I don’t try to shock but I often do. I really want my work to be approachable. I don’t want to slap people in the face. I like to use a sense of humor to get a joyful reaction, while hoping they’ll take the time to see a deeper meaning. Art is the way I communicate. It’s my visual language.”