Stitching Light and Memory: Gavin Bernard’s Artful Journey in Midtown Atlanta
09/04/2025
BY BRIAN CARR
Sunlight shifts across the walls and floor of Gavin Bernard’s Midtown art studio, transforming shadows and reflections into patterns that dance with possibility. For Bernard, a designer and mixed media artist, that subtle interplay between light and texture has had a profound influence on the practice he is building.
Bernard’s work with reclaimed textiles and sculptural explorations of light tells stories of identity, resilience, and transformation. His quilts are stitched from fabric swatches that once hosted everyday life: his mother’s tablecloth, his father’s work clothes, rare patterns unearthed on a visit to a thrift store. In his hands, they transform into new narratives, imbued with fond memories and reimagined with artistic expression.
We recently visited Bernard in his studio to talk with him about his artistic process and what he’s working on next inside Midtown Alliance’s artist-in-residency program. Keep reading.
Learning to Quilt
Originally from a small town in the UK, Bernard’s path to art was indirect. His parents moved the family to New York City in the 1980s, and later migrated to Atlanta in the late 1990s. At first, Bernard was skeptical about moving here.
“At the time, I was busy working and going to school in New York,” he said. “My parents were like, 'why don't you come and check out Atlanta?' So I came down for the summer. And then something kind of clicked. Atlanta has always had awesome people, and I made some friends here. Atlanta kind of just draws you in.”
Bernard studied interior design and worked in retail, where he learned firsthand the value placed on clothing and textiles. He started a design studio that has worked with many local clients and brands. But it wasn’t until the COVID-19 pandemic that he discovered quilting, thanks to his partner, who enrolled him in a virtual quilting class. But he didn’t master quilting right away.
“At first, I was frustrated,” he said. “Because design demands precision, clean lines. Even my skill level with sewing wasn't to the point where I could get the straight lines that I wanted. But quilting doesn’t always work that way. But once I stopped thinking of it as design and started treating it as an art form, there was more freedom.”
That shift helped Bernard open up a new way of working. Instead of adhering to intricate patterns, his quilts became intuitive compositions, alive with color, a little imperfection, and the imprint of past lives.
“I like using reclaimed textiles and found material,” Bernard said. “I think it holds more stories. When I was a kid, I was the same way of just playing with what you have.”
Growing up, Bernard’s mother worked in the import/export business. That work involved the fashion industry and clothing. And his interest in fabric expanded when he worked in the retail industry.
“I know the arbitrary value of clothing, because everything has a cycle,” he said. “It'll eventually go on sale, it'll eventually get discontinued. So it's less about how other people place value on it than what I can see in the material.”
Today, Bernard’s quilting works can be seen around town at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport and The Goat Farm.
New Work Explores Interplay Between Light and Tree Branches
Bernard’s artistry moves beyond quilts. His design background also informs sculptural installations that capture light, transparency, and form. Sprawling across his studio, his newest project uses PVC pipes molded to mimic the architecture of tree branches, wrapped in dried banana leaves from his late father’s garden. The installation feels both organic and ethereal.
“The movement of branches, reaching toward light—it’s like the movement of life,” he said. “The banana leaf added another layer for me. My father was an avid farmer, and after he passed, I wanted to bring his pastime into the work. His work clothes became a quilt, his plants became part of the sculpture. It’s grief, memory, and renewal all woven together.”
According to Bernard, the completed piece will invite viewers to see shifting shadows and changing perspectives over time. For Bernard, they echo his lifelong interest in how light, space, and atmosphere all intersect to create a feeling.
Unique Studio Space
Bernard’s studio in Midtown Atlanta gives him space—literally and figuratively—to build out his big ideas. The white-walled room with high ceilings and large, west-facing windows is improbably located on the ground floor of an Emory University Hospital Midtown parking deck. Through the windows you can hear the soft and constant hum of traffic on I-85 and 75. For some, it might feel disconnected. For Bernard, it works.
“I feel the action and movement of the city right outside my window,” he says. “Coming from New York, that energy feels familiar. It’s not the most logical place for a studio, but it’s exactly what I needed—room to explore and the natural light I asked for.”
Through Midtown Alliance’s artist residency program, Bernard is also forging bonds with fellow artists, including Charity Hamidullah and Aysha Pennerman, with whom he has worked previously.
“It feels amazing to still be on this journey with them,” he said. “In my first residency, I was working to understand myself as an artist. Now, it feels like the next level—creating a fuller body of work.”
Coming in November: An Exhibition of Grief and Light
This fall, Bernard’s explorations culminate in an installation at The Anchor, a church in Grant Park dedicated to art and culture. Opening in November, the show will delve into themes of grief and spirituality, bringing together his textile work and sculptural installations in a setting that amplifies their resonance.
As he prepares for his show, Bernard remains grounded in the principles that guide his work: transforming materials that were part of someone’s lived experiences, interpreting the memories they made, and the stories they tell now.
“In a way, my work with these materials is almost alchemy,” Bernard said. “It feels like I get to evolve their purpose beyond a tablecloth or a linen, or a bedsheet. Like I'm creating a second life for them. And it's always fun to see how all of that will align.”
Gavin Bernard’s work will be on view November 2025 at The Anchor in Grant Park. Don’t miss this opportunity to experience his thought-provoking approach to textiles, light, and sculpture in a setting that honors both memory and transformation.