(Left) Alex Bernstein, artist; (Right) Hare. Mitchell Lonas, artist
By Gina Malone
At Blue Spiral 1’s (BS1’s) Lower Level Gallery, dramatic, carefully wrought works of carved glass and incised aluminum make up the exhibition Step Into the Light: Alex Bernstein and Mitchell Lonas, running through October 26. “Having worked with both artists for more than a decade, pairing them together for a major exhibition was well overdue,” says Michael Manes, Blue Spiral 1’s gallery director and co-owner. “Key to both artists’ work is light. Light energizes and brings their work to life, enhancing color, form and imagery.” Lighting in the gallery emphasizes attributes of the works and creates an intimate space where viewers can interact with each piece. As part of its “In the Studio” series, BS1 has created a short documentary-style video for each artist.
Alex Bernstein
Alex Bernstein, artist
“I was literally raised in a glass studio,” says Bernstein. His parents, William and Katherine, are glass artists and his father was a founding member in 1971 of Glass Art Society. Bernstein studied psychology at UNC Asheville and worked in a psychiatric hospital for several years before enrolling in the graduate program at Rochester Institute of Technology in NY. He taught for several years after obtaining his degree before finding himself able to focus full-time on being a studio artist. He moved back to Asheville to live and work. “Early in my career, I was very lucky to have significant early success with a show that sold out in New York City that I believe launched my career,” he says.
Alex Bernstein, artist
During his growing-up years in Celo, he found plenty to inspire him in the mountain views and while running and playing near the South Toe River. “I make abstract sculpture, so I never try to recreate what Mother Nature has done,” Bernstein says, “but look at it as an inspiration. My work very much feels like natural crystals or geodes or the mountains—whether it’s a micro or macro view.”
To create his glass sculptures, he starts with additive sculpting. “I put pieces of glass in an oven and then melt them together,” he says. “Then I turn it into more of a subtractive sculpture, working much like a stone sculptor subtracting material, cutting and carving to achieve the design I’m looking for.” He developed a method of fusing steel to the surface of the cast glass sculptures. “I literally melt sparks or metal onto the glass,” he says. “It gives it a unique look as well as being a great metaphor for the fact that the work is inspired by nature and, in fact, is going through a natural phenomenon as the steel rusts and patinas.”
Mitchell Lonas
“My whole adult life has been spent in the studio creating,” says Lonas, an eastern Tennessee native, who now works from a studio in Asheville. He began his art career as a portrait artist and, by age 24, had enough commissioned work to devote himself solely to art. It was during a year off after many years of painting that he picked up metalwork. “I spent a few months practicing different techniques,” he says. “There was an immediate connection that excited me—and that’s still happening.”
Alight. Mitchell Lonas, artist
Like Bernstein, he, too, is inspired by nature, albeit portraying it in a more representational way. His intricate process involves cutting aluminum into objects such as feathers or a bird’s nest, baking an enamel finish onto it and then mounting it on stretchers where it floats and takes on a sculptural quality.
“I always felt like things sometimes looked over—like a nest, a pinecone, a tree, a feather—hold the most beauty,” Lonas says. “I’d like to be a catalyst for someone appreciating the small natural wonders around them.”
Murmuration. Mitchell Lonas, artist
He credits his parents with his becoming an artist and with supporting him in his art. His father makes all of the stretchers for his artwork, and his mother, Lonas says, has an eye for beauty. “She has shown me the beauty in nature and always encouraged me to pursue life as an artist.” Between the two of them, he says, “I couldn’t be more supported.”
Lonas does not wait for inspiration to strike. Applying himself to his art every day, he finds inspiration in the work. “I feel at peace when I am working,” he says. Peace is also what he hopes viewers find when they experience his incised panels. “I enjoy watching people ‘commit’ to my work,” he says. “When that connection is made, it makes me feel I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing.”
Blue Spiral 1 is located at 38 Biltmore Avenue, Asheville. Hours are Sunday through Tuesday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Wednesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, visit BlueSpiral1.com or call 828.251.0202. Find more about Alex Bernstein’s life and work at AlexBernsteinGlass.com and on Instagram @alexbernsteinglass. Learn more about Mitchell Lonas’s life and work at MitchellLonas.com.
