Holland Berkley

Holland Berkley has devoted her life to the journey of making images, whether working on paper, canvas, or metal plates. She strives to draw honest and intriguing lines while investigating both the beautiful and the odd, illuminating the common moments of life. Her goal is to convey a sense of mystery and awe through human forms that are abstracted rather than literal, placed within environments of graphic symbols and universal patterns derived from primitive cultures.
Her distinctive images emerge through many layers of glazes, washes, and textural compounds, along with the incorporation of elements such as sand and newspaper. Through this painstaking method, she achieves the age-worn patina of old paintings or the weathered surface of stone, wood, metals, and fabric. The materials she uses are extensive and ever changing, including raw pigments, charcoal, glazes, varnishes, and metallic leaf.
Berkley received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting and Art Education from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1972 and taught art in the elementary public school system before pursuing a full-time career as an artist. Over the years, she has received numerous awards and exhibited in galleries and museums across the country. Her work is represented by Park West Gallery and can be found in notable collections including Disney Corporation, Exxon Corporation, Universal Studios, Federal Express, Larson Juhl, Inc, and the Ritz Carlton Corporation.