Artist Statement

My vision as an artist is to engage the viewer in an internal journey, connecting an exploration of individual character with the external world in which we live. By investigating person-centered narratives and internal themes — such as how we carry our past with us always as the lens through which we view life, the need for human connection, dreams, and memory — my drawings ask how who we are connects us with community. In other words, how do we define ourselves as individuals within our social context?

Artist Jeffrey Berg - Washington, DC

Drawing is everything to me. I work within a narrative. My work explores a moment in a story: there is a prologue and an epilogue. I like a drawing to be viewed with duality: an internal response of the protagonist to an external event. I like stories that have intimate yet broader implications, sometimes as revealed to me through life in Washington, DC, my former work as a counselor in a community mental health clinic, what I’m reading, current events, social justice and contemporary humanist themes.

I usually work with medium- to large-size paper, often in multiple panels like the pages of a book, using pencil and color pencil which can evoke writing and narration. Each panel stands on its own; together, a larger narrative may emerge.

The result, I hope, is thoughtful, intriguing, accessible, and human … and a bridge between self-exploration and how we may translate such understanding into action in our present world.

7/2024

Biography: Jeffrey Berg

I have drawn all my life. Formerly a counselor in a community mental health clinic, I currently work full-time in my studio at the 52 “O” Street Studios in Washington, DC. My work has been exhibited in numerous solo and juried group shows in the DC area, and several open studio events, and has been reviewed by The Washington Post.

My work is in private collections as well as in the permanent collections of commercial and public venues. I have twice been awarded an Arts and Humanities Fellowship from the DC Commission of the Arts and Humanities. My work has been published in four international collections and on the cover of a regional publication. I have participated in two artist residencies.

Above: The Heart is the Human Shield

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