Artist's Statement
Rooted in a cross-disciplinary approach, my work investigates the surfaces of identity formation with a homo-historic lens. Sculptures, writings, and mixed media works question identity from this queer perspective -- positing my practice as a cipher, and art-viewing as a form of cryptology. The viewer is encouraged to look past the surface, and deeper still, to uncover layers of gendered spaces, bodies, and relationships often obscured or omitted from private and public histories.
Biography
Dave J Bermingham earned an MDes: Fashion, Body & Garment from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago under the guidance of, Nick Cave, Liat Smestad, and Anke Loh. He previously received a BFA in Fashion Design from Massachusetts College of Art. His multidisciplinary approach to art-making has resulted in bodies of work ranging from found-material sculpture, to performance, to garment and fashion design. These works delve into the relationships, constructs, and iconography that citizens of any culture must navigate in order to surmise a sense of self.
Bermingham was born in Quincy, Massachusetts and considers his youth steeped in the post-colonial and immigrant forged monuments of New England to be the foundation for his continued interest in identity politics. He is co-founder of the former Industrial Stitchers' Guild and the Boston LGBTQIA Artist Alliance, serving as the Interim director for the latter from 2017-2020. His work has been shown nationally. As drag performer Aquanette Prudence Jones, Bermingham has fallen off many stages in venues ranging from dive-bars to repertory theaters.
Bermingham has worked as an adjunct instructor of fashion design, history and illustration at Mount Ida College, Newbury College, and MassArt. His work is held in several private collections. Residencies include the inaugural Echo Trobridge Aritist-in-Residence at the Brookline Arts Center in Brookline, MA, and as visiting artist to the TextielMuseum/TextielLab in Tilburg, Netherlands and 2019/20 recipient of Conception Arts' Chateau d'Orquevaux residency grant.
