Mandevilla Garden Party. 30" X 30" (Photo print on aluminum)

2020

Artist: Petra Bernstein

Born and raised in the German countryside, Petra learned to appreciate nature at an early age. She uses both photography and painting to express her deep connection to the natural world.

Her artwork ranges from close-up photographs and paintings of flora and fauna to abstract interpretations of nature’s mystery.

Living on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, she is surrounded by an abundance of natural beauty, wildlife and marshland. The rhythmic reflections of the water and the impact of the ever changing light conditions inspire her to capture her surroundings through her lens and onto her canvas.

Petra’s latest passion is double exposure photography. This technique allows her to layer photographs and to incorporate her paintings into her photography. By merging two images, Petra invites you into a mysterious new space that is open for interpretation.

Petra earned a BFA from Salisbury University in 2007 Summa Cum Laude with a concentration in painting. Additionally, she has a BS from the University of Regensburg in Germany.

Since September 2020, Petra’s nature inspired photography has been on displayed in the lobby of the One Plaza East building in downtown Salisbury, MD. In recent years, her work has been shown in art galleries and venues in the US and in Europe, among them at Gallery Clarendon in Arlington, Virginia, Agora Gallery in New York City, Hill Center in Washington, DC and at the Rehoboth Art League in Rehoboth, Delaware. In her home state of Maryland she has shown her artwork at the Annmarie Arts Center in Solomons Island, Bishop’s Stock Art Gallery in Snow Hill, Art League of Ocean City, SAS in Salisbury, Circle Gallery in Annapolis and the House of Delegates in Annapolis.

In Europe, her work has been displayed in London, Bologna and Milan and Madrid. Petra has worked with Monteoliveto Galerie since 2018 on several exhibits, among them at the Spazio Tadini in Milan (2018 and 2019), Galerie Etienne de Causans in Paris (2018), Conninsby Gallery in London (2019).