Audrey Bernard | Daughter and Grandbabies | Mixed Media (relief print, acrylic, oil pastel) on paper | 2006

Audrey Bernard
I moved to the United States from Jamaica in 1996 to find work. I was hoping for a better quality of life for my family. I worked as a nursing assistant and in childcare, taking much pride in caring for America’s most vulnerable assets, children and elderly. I worked hard. Twelve, sixteen-hour days; two jobs at once. I sent most of the money back to my five children still in Jamaica. I imagined I would get a better education, maybe even buy a house, you know, the American dream.
In 2001 I developed severe health conditions including major heart surgery. I haven’t been able to work since that time. Always fiercely independent, I suddenly found myself part of America’s social service system. Unable to feed my youngest child (who was here in America with me) I sent him back to his siblings in Jamaica, hoping I could raise enough money to follow him soon but I have had many more health problems and surgeries.
Losing my independence coupled with the strain of not seeing my children in a decade lead to severe depression and further hospitalization. From this hospitalization, I was referred to a mental health recovery program with a visual arts focus. I learned some print making techniques and I have experimented and expanded on those techniques to produce work that is uniquely mine. My most recent series of prints are based on photos of my family sent to me over the past decade. I have grandbabies I have yet to meet but through making art from their pictures I feel I am celebrating their lives and in doing so they are closer to me in my heart. And, because they are prints I can send art to my family, still have a copy for myself to cherish and yet even more for me to share with others.
In spite of the setbacks, I am grateful for the opportunities and services I have had here in America. I am not bitter. I am happy to be alive.