Eliza Berle was raised in Richardson, Texas and attended Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. In their time there, they were employed by the Nasher Sculpture Center as an education employee, filled the role of studio apprentice for local ceramic artist, Both Hands Studio, and managed the ceramics studio for a local arts nonprofit, The Creative Arts Center of Dallas. They’ve shown work at Blueprint Gallery and Saatchi’s Other Art Fair. They have received recognition from Young American Talent on 3 occasions, placed 10th in CAGO’s “Women in Exhibition,” placed 4th in Fusion Galleries' annual “Color,” exhibition, and represented their district in the Congressional Art Competition, a gallery showing at the United States Capitol Building in Washington DC. They are currently a student at Smith College where they plan to graduate with a major in Studio Arts and a concentration in Poetry. Their experience as a queer person in non-profit work and education has made them passionate about building a bridge between art and people who have been taught they exist on the fringes of it.

Statement

“My world is colored by the complex familial structure I was raised within. A severed limb of a family tree, having a queer body in the American South, losing someone while they are still living, and a deep, complex love are among some of the defining experiences I turn to art and poetry to help me articulate. Through doing so, I am creating a portrait of the relational web I am caught in. I use the strength of light as a motif of choice, engagement, and desire. Pairing the medium of light with materials of various translucencies and opacities to communicate how ephemeral, and even fleeting, closeness can be. This allows me to articulate the nuance of the web I was born into and the one I constructed myself. I often turn to paper, given it is a highly tactile material. This forces  a closeness between myself and the object, ultimately complimenting the relationship I am recreating through its cooperation or lack thereof. These works can be dense with information, making it challenging for me to capture in a single title or statement, thus I turn to poetry. In my writing I focus on capturing the broad strokes of the relationship, writing it as I construct the accompanying artwork. I structure each poem as a letter to the person of whom I am in relation to, embedding the title of the work in the poem. I see my work as investigative, a moment to step back and wade into the waters of the complexities of each person and the role they occupy in my life. I ask questions such as, “is this fair?” “Who has the power?” “How does one advocate for what they deserve in a relationship?” “Does anyone really ‘deserve’ anything?” My work does not seek answers, rather, I aim to honor the relationship and embody its magnitude.”

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