Plainsboro resident Piedad Bernikow’s photograph titled, “Opposites Attract,” is on view at Gallery 125’s current exhibit. The opening reception is Friday, February 9, from 5 to 9 p.m. at 125 South Warren Street, Trenton.##M:[more]##
Bernikow’s artwork includes digital art, nature, and wildlife photography. Bernikow uses her photos as a base to produce digital art via computer-manipulated photos. The results vary and some of the works have little or no resemblance to the original photo. In “Opposites Attract,” the original photo taken in Longwood Gardens depicted the water lily further away from the lily pad and now they look like they are floating toward each other. She also highlighted the colors.
She prefers Canon cameras and until two years ago used only film. On a trip to Florida her husband suggested that she also take his digital camera. She took many photos of wildlife and birds and soon after she switched to digital.
Born in Manhattan, Bernikow’s family moved to a small town near Woodstock when she was eight. “I grew up with artists and musicians — much to my father’s dismay.” Her father gave her a camera when she was five and she developed an interest in photography through the years. She even had a darkroom in her house at one point. Her first photo was on exhibit without her knowledge. When she was in high school a teacher brought her to a studio in Kingston and when she walked in, “there was my photograph.”
Despite her early interest in art, she earned a law degree at New York University, and is licensed to practice law in New Jersey and Washington, DC. She calls herself a “recovering attorney” who has exchanged her law books for the less litigious world of dispute resolution consulting and art. She also has been substitute teaching in the WW-P high schools. “I like kids and it keeps me on my toes.”
Her husband, Jerry, teaches science in high schools and colleges in New York. For many years he was a computer consultant, and the couple kept moving and never knew how long they were staying in an area. When they moved back to New Jersey they lived in Hoboken before settling in Plainsboro. “I fell in love with the area,” she says. “There is so much in this township and it is chock full of wonderful people.”
Her one-woman show at the Plainsboro Library will be on view May 6 through June 1. A chat with the artist will be on Sunday, May 20, from 3 to 5 p.m.
“Everyone I know who has succeeded does things they love to do,” she says. “Life is short and you should be doing something you like to do.” — Lynn Miller
Gallery 125, 125 South Warren Street, Trenton, 609-989-9119. Opening reception is Friday, February 9, 5 to 9 p.m.
