CHRISTY BERGLAND

About the Artist

Born in Maryland and raised in both Maryland and Maine, Christy continues both residences where she has studios. After graduating from the Maryland Institute College of Art, she earned an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania. During that time she spent an invigorating summer at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine. Christy's teaching art to school children on Long Island where they were visually describing their experiences, led her to financially support herself as an artist with a career in art therapy. She returned to Philadelphia where she graduated from the Creative Arts in Therapy master's program at Drexel University. She was affiliated with Sheppard Pratt Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland for many years. As part of her private practice she was the supervising art therapist for The Retreat at Sheppard Pratt. Christy's work as an art therapist has significantly informed her work as an artist. The notion of connection in collaboration as well as the writings of D. W. Winnicott about “play” and “transitional phenomenon” are fundamental concepts in her artwork as well as in her art therapy work. She is an artist who makes artworks about space and movement in time. “Loss” and “change” are essential muses in the process of “finding” the visual work in present time. In addition to her studio work, Christy serves as a past president and current board member of The Creative Alliance at The Patterson, a community based arts organization in Southeast Baltimore.

Artist's Statement

For me art is about the experience of eternity in the here and now. This is what I hope to experience in all my encounters with art whether mine or others.