Artist’s Statement
My love of color and light and the spontaneity that the silk painting medium provides, gives me the unique opportunity to fully express myself. It persuades my imagination to retrieve new images and transfer them onto the silk surface. The impression left by the resist and the dyes leads me to further invention. The idea that I never know what will be coming next is a powerful incentive to my work.
I sometimes draw from my life experiences, and memories and work directly onto the silk. At other times I develop a set of imagery and work in watercolor and collage before using dyes. The medium is always playful and unpredictable.
My basic interest is the rendering of color onto a two dimensional surface and the developing of ideas and imagery which work as an abstraction even though my work is figurative.
I owe a debt to Henri Matisse, whose paintings I have loved since childhood. Other strong influences include Romare Bearden, Jasper Johns, Elizabeth Murray, Stuart Davis and prehistoric cave paintings.
Selected Juried Exhibitions:
A. I. R. Gallery, Generations "08, NYC, June 2008
National Association of Women Artists, NYC, 5/12/08-7/17/08
Katonah Museum, Day Laborer series to accompany immigration conference 10/12/07
Katonah Museum Artist Association 9/07-3/08
The Blue Hill Cultural Center, Pearl River NY, National Association of Women Artists, member exhibit: June-Nov. 2007
Biennial Exhibition at A. I. R. Gallery, March 6-31, 2007
Juror: Connie Butler, Curator of Drawings and Prints, Museum of Modern Art
School House Gallery, Katonah Museum Artists Assoc.10/20/06-11/12/06
HVCCA, The Peekskill Project, Invitational show, Sept. 16 - 17, 2006
Westchester Biennial, Juror: D. Domenick Lombardi April 2 - June 18, 2006
Katonah Museum Tri-State Exhibit Juror: Benny Andrews, May - June 2005
Solo exhibit, Flat Iron Gallery, Peekskill, NY May, 2005
Smithtown Township Arts Council, Fiber Exhibit, July 2004
Katonah Museum Artists Assoc. W.C.C. Gallery, Juror, Dede Young, June 2004
A. I. R. Gallery, Generations .04, Invitational show, NYC March 2004
Flat Iron Gallery, Peekskill, NY, Dec. 2002, Feb, Sept - Dec. 2003,
Quiet Waters Gallery, Annapolis, Maryland Sept, 10, Nov 2, 2003
Union Station, Kansas City, Mo. Banner, June 2003
Katonah Museum Artists Assoc. NWCA, October 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005
Academy Art Museum, Easton, Maryland, September 2000
Westchester Community College Gallery,”Intimate Angles“ Oct. 1998
Grassroots, Hastings-on Hudson, 1994
Bronx Museum
Numerous Private Collections
Publications:
Peinture Sur Soie: A French magazine for silk painters, featured artist double page spread of Latino Day Laborers, July 2007
The Journal News: “Art Knows No Borders”, July 23,2006 The NY Times,Featured Artist, Review of Westchester Biennial, May7, 2006
The New York Times: “Living In” October 2005
The Peekskill Star: ”Spotlight” Pliskin’s Artwork Selected” June 2003
The New York Times, Westchester Section: Featured Artist Nov. 2001
Women’s News ,”Hello Peekskill Goodbye Soho” June 2000
Hudson Valley Magazine Artists Profile, “Taking the Silk Road” Aug. 2000
Longman Inc: Top 20 ESL Word Games Beginning Vocabulary Development Authors: Marjorie Fuchs, Berenice Pliskin: 1991-present, Barnes&Noble, Amazon.com
Longman Inc: Aventuras, Beginning Spanish, Text Book Authors: Brenda Stephens with Berenice Pliskin: 1989
Longman Inc: Top 24 French Word Game Hits– Masters for Beginning French Author: 1988
Longman Inc: Top 24 Spanish Word Game Hits– Masters for Beginning Spanish Author: 1987
Doubleday & Company, INC: A Trainload of Fun– A Doubleday Activity Book Author & Illustrator: 1981
Grosset & Dunlap: Cinnamon House Press: Dinosaur Activity Book Author & Illustrator: 1978
Grosset& Dunlap: Cinnamon House Press: Ringmasters Puzzles Author & Illustrator: 1978
Scholastic Magazine: Science World Magazine, Contributing Puzzle Editor Cartoonist & Puzzle Constructor 1970 - 1978
Commissions & Corporate Collections
“ Diptych 1”, “Diptych 2” , “Night Heron” , “Spider Web”
Ginsburg Development LLC, Chapel Hill, Peekskill, two silk paintings
Honors:
"Who's Who of American Women"
Surface Design Association Award-winning silk painting, “Digital Delights” 2003
Westchester Arts Council Arts Awards 2002: Education/Community Award
for a significant contribution to the arts, “A Community Mosaic 9/11”
Art Organizations:
National Association of Women in the Arts, Juried Member
Silk Painter’s Guild for Fine Artists, Juried Member
Katonah Museum Artist Association
Textile Study Group of NY
Surface Design Assoc.
Education:
M. F. A. Painting, Lehman College, New York
High School of Music & Art