Katherine Bernhardt’s distinctive approach to painting is driven by an unfiltered visual curiosity and an explosive energy. Using bold strokes of spray paint and fluid acrylics, she crafts compositions that reject traditional illusion and perspective. Her canvases are vibrant collisions of pop culture references and everyday objects, creating a playful and unrestrained visual language that feels both immediate and dynamic.
Temple Magazine First, what are your influences, whether visual, cultural, or personal, that feed your work at the moment? In your process, there is an immediacy, what drives this rhythm?
Katherine Bernhardt First of all, everything from eucalyptus plants to Cookie Monster, ceramics, furniture design, swimming in nature, coffee, bananas. The new Lucky Charms came out, which is nice. Coffee, and then just different designs, popular culture, food—more specifically, Lucky Charms marshmallows, which I’ve been working on now, and Cookie Monster’s face, shoving food into Cookie Monster’s face, and butter.