DONNA BERNSTEIN
"It is not horses that I paint; I paint the way they make me feel."
Donna Bernstein is a contemporary equestrian artist native New Yorker, whose careful attention to the essence of the equine, coupled with a unique understanding of their anatomy and personality creates art in a signature intuitive style. "Horses have always been for me a source of healing, energy, and life. I feel closely aligned with the ancient cave paintings; minimalist, primal, intimate. I have learned that it is not horses that I paint; I paint the way they make me feel.
As a child in a large family, I started drawing the people around me, my surroundings, and especially horses, as I wanted one desperately and was unable to have one. So these were drawn from my imaginations, as a way, I suspect, to "capture" them. We were unable to have a horse at the time so I studied everything I could about them - their history, from the earliest cave days as an Eohippus; their evolution, the breeds, aliments, cures, and movement until my brain had photographed it all. The pleasure of re-creating these images and the patterns of their fluid and expressive forms never get old.
I mix mediums and materials in uncommon ways and often use no brushes as I might ink-drip the horse’s form onto a flat canvas. This allows for a kind of alchemical spontaneity, as passion is made visible. The form of the horse is an unlikely and exquisite blend of pure sensuality supported by uniquely architectural anatomy. With a style unlike any other, my art celebrates this kinetic marvel, evoking qualities of power and vulnerability, compassion, and forward movement".
