Paracletos
Intersect Art Center, St. Louis, MO, 2025
“Wayne Adams' undulating aluminum installation dominates the gallery entrance. Countless coruscating creases and billowing anatomy might remind us of our balled-up burrito wrappings. The sheer scale, wandering composition, and substantial forms transform this humble material into a phenomenon that instead points to the precious mineral origins rather than dispensable aftermath. Largely self-supported, the sculpture wavers between incredible strength and dramatic fragility. The more the thin sheets of foil are creased and cratered, the more structural strength the material acquires, almost appearing as boulders to be scaled. The sculpture develops a proliferation of pin prick holes and tiny tears that allow light to not only rebound off the surface, but penetrate through.
The reflective wall might simultaneously call to mind the expanse of gilded domes and walls in Byzantine cathedrals or the tin-foil factory of pop artist Andy Warhol. Like a pop-art enlargement, the magnitude of material here grants a gravitas and unavoidable confrontation with the magnitude of food packaging materials used every single day. Aluminum, while energy intensive to extract, is one the most recyclable materials in the world and possibly an environmentally conscientious choice for our food systems compared to plastics.
Reflective surfaces have symbolized the in-breaking of the divine into the world of humans for centuries. That divine representation here poses a curious exploration as we think about it infused into crinkled and crumpled, fragile yet strong acts of human service as we feed one another.”
-Bernhardt, Sarah. 2025. We Are What (exhibition catalog).
Psalm 27
My Light and My Salvation
Georgetown College, 2024
“The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom should I fear?
The Lord is the defense of my life;
Whom should I dread?.”
Psalm 72:1 (NASB)
The title of the exhibition Psalm 27: My Light and My Salvation posed a unique opportunity to explore questions around art and faith in the new context of Georgetown College. What does it mean to call God ‘light and salvation?’ How does religious belief effect a person’s psychology? What do I put my trust in?
The Body of Christ.
Calvin University, 2022
“Now you are Christ’s body, and individually parts of it.” I Corinthians 12:27 (NASB)
The title of the exhibition Body of Christ posed a unique opportunity to explore questions specific to Christianity within the familiar context of Calvin University. How do I think about this metaphor two thousand years after it was coined? How can anyone conceive of the entirety of believers in Jesus? What does it mean to be part of this body?
