Share this
Cindy Bernhard (American, b. 1989), lives and works in Chicago. She is a visual artist whose vivid paintings blend cheeky humor, and dreamy nostalgia in the digital age. Bernhard crafts lush, hyperreal canvases that vibrate with neon light, glossy textures, and soft gradients—each one a carefully choreographed balance between the sensual and surreal.
Drawing from internet culture, pop iconography, and traditional still life, Bernhard’s work creates a unique aesthetic that bridges the worlds of classic oil painting and 21st-century kitsch. She paints intimate scenes infused with symbols of leisure and longing—candles, cosmetics, sunsets, cats—imbuing each object with a theatrical glow that invites viewers into a fantasy both glamorous and melancholic.
Bernhard has exhibited nationally and internationally, quickly becoming a notable voice in the resurgence of figurative painting with a twist of irony and emotional sincerity. Her work speaks to the tension between indulgence and vulnerability, asking what it means to be seen—and to want to be seen—through a curated lens. As both painter and provocateur, Cindy Bernhard invites us to linger in moments of soft chaos, where everything sparkles just enough to make us question what’s real, what’s fantasy, and what’s in between.
Hi Cindy! It’s a pleasure to sit down with you! First question that I always ask. How does a regular day look like for you in Chicago?
Cindy: Yes! I am excited! Thank you, it is a pleasure to speak with you! I try to keep a disciplined schedule. Monday through Friday I wake up around 5am, take my dogs out, check emails, call my sister, and then I like to be in the studio by 7am or 8am. I am very fortunate, because I just got a beautiful studio built in my backyard, so my studio is right here. It’s truly wonderful. I usually quit painting around 5 pm. There are days where I put in more or less time, depending on deadlines and additional obligations. But then there are days like today that are a little different, for example, this morning I get to sit at a coffee shop and speak with you while sipping a cortado 🙂
I’m curious, growing up on a pig farm in Illinois, what kind of kid were you? What did you enjoy doing, and how did you spend your time?
Cindy: I have always been a really curious person. I loved growing up on a farm; seeing the stars every night and running through cornfields. I was probably either outside playing, or inside drawing as a kid. I have always been obsessed with life and death. Looking back, I wonder if perhaps it has to do with seeing the cycle of life so close to me as a child. Pigs were always giving birth at the same time pigs were being shipped to be slaughtered. I think as a kid, life and death is something you think about and try to make sense of. I was messaging with a friend today, and we were discussing God, if he exists, he said “I don’t usually think about it”, which to me was so interesting, because I said, “oh wow…it’s all I think about”! But maybe that is why I am an artist, it really is our job to think about these things…it’s a luxury to think about these things.
So when did you start painting, and when did you start taking being an artist seriously?
Cindy: I don’t remember a time when being an artist wasn’t my “thing”. Even in middle school I was looking forward to going to art school for college. My poor parents… they always supported me being an artist, but they must have worried. I think if I was a parent and my kid wanted to be an artist… I would have worries. But, I do believe if you are an artist… you are an artist. I’m not so sure it is something one chooses to do… you either are an artist, or you are not. You either can live a life doing something else… or you can’t. And when you can’t, you figure out a way to make art. Even if that means you have other jobs, and work on your art when you can. You make time for it, if you can’t live without it.
Ok Cindy, with these next series of questions, I will try to delve into your work as best as possible. So, your distinctive style, characterized by dreamlike interiors and animal figures, emerged around 2020. What pivotal experiences or experiments led to this development? How did this transformation impact your artistic direction
Cindy: Yes, in 2020 I made my first cat painting, and the moment I made it, I knew it hit on something. For many years after grad school I was making different paintings just trying out different things. I was still trying to find my voice, my own painting language. This is very difficult to do. For painters reading this, do not underestimate how difficult this is. I believe the only way to find your voice as a painter is to make many paintings. You make enough paintings and things start to fall into place, things start to click. When I posted the first cat painting, many of my painter friends called me and said “This is so Cindy…and you don’t even have a cat”.
So what do you think it is about this surreal and dreamlike look that resonates with you?
Cindy: You know, I always wanted my paintings to depict more of a psychological/spiritual realm rather than reality. Paintings that are my own world, paintings that play by their own rules. In my world curtains are always blowing, the stars are always shining, and cats are often….a little surprised or…concerned? I think a lot of my day to day interests naturally end up showing up in my work. I like to listen to audiobooks and podcasts on mysticism, and the spiritual realm, and my work is often described in this way. The research for my work and my personal interests are one and the same. I was an atheist for 17 years, but a year ago, I had an intense spiritual encounter. I no longer believe the world we live in, and what we experience here on earth is it. My brother who is a catholic priest once told me, “The spiritual world is more real than the physical world”, and this is something that I think about often.
Cats and dogs frequently appear in your paintings as stand-ins for humans, adding layers of humor and empathy. What inspired this choice, and how do these animals enhance the narratives within your work?
Cindy: I was trained in figure painting, and I was making figure paintings for many years. I found that when painting the figure, the dialog about my work became a conversation about identity politics. In my painting practice, that is not of interest to me. My interests lie in the human experience, not gender, or body type, or the color of someone’s skin. I’m interested in shared human connection, shared emotions like grief, pain, beauty, suffering, and joy. There are days I miss painting the figure and I can see it returning in my work again one day.
With that in mind… What do you think it is about cats that resonates so well with you?
Cindy: love looking for the cats and dogs in old master paintings: they are always so weird and expressive. Even though they are in the background and very small, they have a lot to say. In my work the cats become the main character, I think it adds humor, and it’s easier for people to connect to the cat than a figure, which is interesting. There’s also a song I love, by one of my favorite bands, mewithoutyou. For some reason this part of the song ‘a glass can only spill what it contains’ always stuck with me…
A cat came drifting
On my porch from the outside cold
And with eyes closed, drinking
Warm milk from my bowl
Thought, “Nobody hears me, nobody hears me
As I crept in so soft
And nobody sees me, nobody sees me”
As I watch six steps off
In my mind I would always see this cat creeping along….not wanting to be caught. I think it’s about when we do things in the dark and think no one knows, God still sees.
Elements like candles and smoke recur in your paintings, reminiscent of your childhood experiences in the Catholic Church. How do these symbols contribute to the mystical and contemplative atmosphere of your work?
Cindy: I think the smoke and candles create a sense of mystery and an atmosphere of ritual. I have been very interested in spiritual ecstasy and the idea of transcendence lately. I paint gold a lot as well, which harkens to relics and chalices often seen in rituals in churches.
You have a solo show coming up in November, at Volery Gallery, in Dubai. I know it’s still early, but do you have a title for it yet?
Cindy: This is a fun question, I have a few I am thinking about, but nothing is confirmed yet. I usually have a few I am tossing around, and if I don’t use them for the title of the show, they will usually end up as titles for paintings. A lot of the work in the show in Dubai will feature water. I have always been drawn to water, but the older I get the more I’m drawn to its historical religious symbolism. I have also been painting a lot of what I have been calling “soul cats”. Transparent cats…it’s a fun formal and technical challenge, in addition to something I am excited about conceptually.
And what’s your inspiration behind these new bodies of work?
Cindy: The last few years my inspiration has really been the same revolving around ritual, transcendence, spirituality, and spiritual ecstasy.
While we’re on the topic. Are you doing any form of specific research for these new works?
Cindy: I realized recently I am constantly doing research…but to me it is not research…it is just my interest. All of my interests feed into my work one way or another. In a way, my entire life is research for my work. The books I read and the podcasts I listen to find a way into the work.
In on of your previous I interviews I read that you maintain a disciplined studio schedule, starting your day at 5 am and working extensively. How does this routine influence your creativity and productivity? Do you find that structure enhances your artistic process?
Cindy: I am so disciplined. You have to be. You have to be self disciplined to be successful, it’s the only way…it all comes back to discipline. I don’t believe in only working when you are feeling creative, to be a full time artist you have to be working all the time. But when I do have a new idea and I am feeling extra creative, it is an exciting day in the studio…but those days can be rare.
With that in mind, can you walk me through your creative process from beginning to end result?
Cindy: Most of my ideas come to me at night, half asleep…I have so many emails to myself ‘re: painting idea’. Sometimes I build little rooms in blender to help me with references. With blender I can play with color, light and shadow. There are also paintings that I begin with no references. The painting I am working on now…is all from my head. Each painting has its own way that it comes to life, but I have a lot of tools to help me when I am stuck, like photoshop, blender, and I recently started playing with ai.
How do you approach color?
Cindy: I like my use of color to be more Intuitive rather than realistic, more psychological rather than what we see with our eyes in real time. When I was teaching, my students would ask about color, I would tell them to feel free….paint with the colors they want….I tried to get my students to use color in an unrealistic way. To not feel bound to reality.
Ok Cindy, now to something totally different. In a parallel universe who would you be? and what would you be doing?
Cindy: I think I would be a mystic…living in the forest trying to experience a spiritual experience. But actually, that is what I am doing now, haha. Just replace the forest with the studio.
What qualities do you find most important in the people you choose to spend time with?
Cindy: The older I get, the smaller my circle gets. To be honest, I mostly spend time with my family. I want to surround myself with people I can trust and who I can fully be myself around. But, I rarely leave the studio. Us artists…we tend to have that problem, haha.
Anybody you look up to?
Cindy: My favorite living artist is Lisa Yuskavage. My favorite dead artist is probably Morandi. I look up to film makers like Terrence Malik and Tarkovsky. I admire most philosophers and theologians…my favorite being Plato and Thomas Aquinas.
What motivates you?
Cindy: I just love to paint….getting better technically and diving deeper conceptually is thrilling to me. Thinking I can make a better painting than the last is a big motivator.
How would you describe a perfect day?
Cindy: A perfect day would be painting all day….and having a break through in the studio. Then spending the evening with family and friends. That sounds like a lovely day to me.
Alright Cindy, I always ask these two questions at the end of an interview. The first is. What’s your favorite movie(s) and why?
Cindy: Knight of Cups, The tree of Life, and The Spirit of the Beehive. All three are beautifully shot, all about living life and being human, the good, the bad, and the ugly. One day I would love to make a short film using elements from my paintings.
The second is. What song(s) are you currently listening to the most right now?
Cindy: I can’t stop listening to the new Cigarettes After Sex album titled, ‘X’s’. It reminds me of when I lived in California in my mid 20s.