Interview — Artistcloseup.com - Your favorite place to discover new artists

Inspired by his artist father, Bergland immersed himself in the visual world early, winning his first painting award at the age of twelve years old. He distinguished himself in high school with his editions of satirical cartoons published in the school newspaper, winning recognition from Len Norris, the famed political cartoonist of the Vancouver Sun. As far back as 1963, his illustrated work shows him playing with themes of oddity and dark humor. His early years were spent conducting street exhibitions, making commercial art, managing an art gallery, and working as a display artist in a department store, all while trying to discover a personal style of painting which embodied his love of mental oddity. His fascination with the human mind led Bergland to pursue studies in classical philosophy at the University of British Columbia where he pursued a degree in Classics with a major in Greek Pre-Socratic Philosophy. Here he began to understand the basis of psychological aesthetics and used this knowledge to start building the elements of a personal style. After graduating, he spent a number of years teaching in the public school system while building his exhibiting career.

In 1985, he returned to graduate studies in visual arts at the University of BC and discovered the use and practice of digital tools in image production. As a research assistant in a large academic research project, he used very early computing tools to design sequences of visual elements for use in perceptual research studies. He later carried this learning into more creative work under the mentorship of noted digital composer, Theo Goldberg in the then esoteric and underground digital studios in the basement of the university.

Bergland received his Ph.D in visual aesthetics and art education and joined the faculty at the University of Victoria as a Professor of Art Education. He immediately began building a digital studio as an adjunct to the traditional studios in the department. Here he developed a variety of programs for artists in helping them achieve mastery of digital tools and processes. In order to enhance his understanding of how artists in industry used these digital tools, he began a program of consultation which allowed him to work and learn extensively in digital industry, first as the Director of Visual Art for Electronic Arts, the world's largest video gaming company, and then through the years to large projects with a variety of graphic arts, entertainment, and interactive companies. At this time he also served as adjunct professor at Leslie University in Massachusetts, where he traveled around the US, delivering courses and workshops in digital art studio practice.

Bergland began converting his traditional style of painting, which involved acrylic paint on canvas, to a style which used only digital tools and processes. He began achieving early success with this practice which then evolved into his current style called the Sideshow Style. He began exhibiting extensively in international juried online exhibitions, where he began to introduce viewers to his unique style. At this time, Bergland's work focused on motifs of dark psychological oddity constructed in sideshow-like theatrical settings. He began attracting an audience and his schedule of international exhibitions expanded. Don's evolution through the complexities of both this style and its manifestation through digital processes has allowed him to create theatrical narratives which explore the darker existential questions of human existence.

Don Bergland maintains an active international exhibiting career and has featured his artwork in over 200 major exhibitions throughout the world. He has won over 80 creative & professional awards for his work. His work is represented in major corporate and private collections such as the Gulf Oil Corporate Collection (Alberta), the Madrona Centre Permanent Collection (B.C.), the Canadian Utilities Corporate Collection (Alberta), the Timothy Eaton Foundation Collection (Canada), the Chevron Standard Corporate Collection (Alberta), as well as in private collections in Canada, the United States, and Europe. His current focus is in using 3D modeling environments to create surrealistic imagery for international exhibitions. He currently lives and works in Victoria, BC, Canada.

What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?

“My art journey started when, as a young boy, I first became conscious of my father's passion for art and studio production. I was inundated with books on the Impressionists, illustrations of the classic art traditions, and a house filled with oil paints and canvases. I inherited that passion and it became an active force which influenced my entire life. In my teens, I first established myself as a cartoonist, creating work for my high school newspaper, producing strange and odd commentaries on school life. After high school, I expanded this endeavor to fine art painting, starting with street exhibitions and gradually working my way into more prominent gallery exhibitions.
By the 1980s, I had established myself as an interpretive landscape painter and had five major galleries in Canada handling my work. Early in my life I made a decision never to work at anything other than that which nurtured my creative studio life. I’ve stuck by this commitment and I've always worked in positions where art production has been my central activity. I’ve worked as a production line artist and illustrator in the graphic industry and an art director for many large corporations including the Director of Visual Arts for Electronic Arts (one of the world’s largest video gaming companies). My last and most significant position was as a tenured professor of art at the University of Victoria in Canada.”

What does your work aim to say? Does it comment on any current social or political issues?

“I call my artwork ‘theatrical surrealism’. Theatrical Surrealism is a style of composition and figuration which employs comfortable balance systems to host unsettling suppositions, open-air theatrical stages to enact cosmic dramas, and modeled facial expressions to proclaim a righteous agnosticism in the face of existential oblivion. All my surreal representations of figures with distorted mannequin-like forms partake of the established rhythm in new contemporary art. But I feel there is a signature atmosphere in my work that is unique to the existential nature of my philosophy. Deeply influenced by the mechanics of posture present in the Baroque and Victorian eras, my figures meet the viewer in a segmented territory in front of the stage. Actors and viewers are caught in an intrigue of oddity, waiting for each to ask the first question. The figures are reclusive, solitary, yet burning with the intensity of a graven curiosity, silenced by the weight of an eternity that remains unknown and silent.
My work is psychological in nature, originating in the human consciousness and focusing on questions of human existence and mortality.
Each image deals with a specific theme such as time, aging, nostalgia, Utopia, and the conditions of belief that either free or imprison the human mind. The characters which live in my images are rigid in their assumed postures, puppet-like, mannequins, frozen in a captured moment of time, their faces expressing the cosmic anxiety involved in the act of trying to understand their existence. Why are we here? What is our purpose? Does the universe have meaning?”

“I use specific art techniques to emphasize these questions in my artwork...
I first look to build a concept of Oddity, of Strangeness. The unsettling and sometimes uncomfortable experience of encountering something not quite right, not quite real, a little out of place. I’ve borrowed this technique from Surrealism, and I use it in the construction of individual figures to the juxtaposition of objects that may seem unrelated. It is from the psychological platform of Oddity that the rest of the visual drama is launched. Oddity is the mechanism whereby I invite viewers to fully enter the drama and experience the existential struggle for meaning.
Once the nature of Oddity is encountered and recognized, viewers can step into the set a little further. Here they will meet the objects and characters who populate this environment. All of them signify the uneasy relationship between the body and the mind, the body and the head. In many cases, a large oversized head, the home of the human mind, the seat of consciousness. But the heads themselves are sometimes wide open, altered, or distorted in some unusual fashion. Note that these characters all have an expression of awe, quietude, and questioning humility in the presence of eternity. They are so easily able to hide their true emotions with the thin artificial veneer which comprises their mannequin bodies.
And then, there is the dance of the actual composition itself, governed by art principles such as repetition, balance, proportion, and exaggeration. The idea of stillness here is emphasized by the systems of balance used in the work - center-balanced, near symmetrical, ordered and hence, very quiet, very still. Nobody is seeking to make any sudden movements. Note the recurrence of characters and objects, such as the red wheel, the patterned floor, and the groupings of sheep.
I make no overt attempts to comment on social or political issues. My work focuses on various psychological aspects of consciousness.”

“There are a variety of different themes that run through my work, from statements about faith and skepticism, to examinations of human emotion. Look at the titles. Titles such as Utopia, Heretic, Doctrine, and Paradise. Take note of them for they are important guides for the discovery of meaning.”

Which current art world trends are you following?

“Although I make no conscious effort to ‘follow’ current art trends, it is impossible not to be influenced by what is happening in the art world. For the most part, I characterize the impressions I encounter as ‘influences’ rather than as an attempt to ‘follow’ a prescribed direction. There are two areas of my studio life that frequently interact with contemporary influences. (1) - Concept and Content - and, (2) Technical Production.
(1) - Concept and Content - Most of my present work partakes in the spirit of new contemporary art, especially that of Neo-surrealism, Pop Surrealism, and various directions in Magic Realism and Fantasy.
In general, I seek trends and directions that are able to offer visual and mental associations that stretch concepts of reality within a field of oddity and absurdity, trends towards the appreciation of the subconscious as represented through representational and figurative work. This can end up providing influential ideas for my daily studio efforts through the study of recent developments in Pop Surrealism and contemplative art.
But, much the spiritual basis of my current ideas concerning content usage, configuration of forms, and psychological impact come from trends established in Eastern Europe, particularly Poland and the Czech Republic. The powerful work of Beksinkski and Svankmayer have provided me with long-lasting intellectual mentorship, and I often return to a study of their works when I encounter difficult compositional problems. The work coming from Czechoslovakian Surrealism has offered me many learning experiences in how to negotiate the delicate balance between aesthetic composition and psychological impact.
My interest in the aesthetic philosophies generated in Eastern Europe prompted me to seek exhibition opportunities in the Czech Republic. This resulted in several of my works being exhibited at the Blue Blood Gallery in Prague, both of which won major exhibition awards. The War in Ukraine kind has severed my ties with the gallery administration, but I'm hoping to renew this when things settle down.
(2) - Technical Production. Since the mid-1990s, my entire studio has used digital tools and processes for the composition of each new work. My digital studio deals with production, online exhibition, and virtual reality production and exhibition. As a result, I’ve had to be aware of new trends in technology and remain current in my use of production software.
One current trend in which I am active is Virtual Reality and the Metaverse. I have started assembling and curating my own exhibitions in various virtual galleries, notably Spatial.io.
I just opened an exhibition called, ‘The Innocence of Exile’ at this virtual gallery.
With my MetaQuest 2 headset, I am not only curating galleries for exhibitions of my work in the metaverse, I am also examining how to use sculpting tools inside the virtual environment for import into my regular surrealistic art studio.”

Do you plan your work in advance, or is it improvisation?

“I’ve always worked with an understanding that the origination of my imagery is best thought of as a combination of both planning and improvisation and I use this understanding as my main compositional strategy in the studio.
For me, there is no established script for the beginning of an artwork. It can come about in many different ways. I can have a formed idea in my mind, something that has arisen from my subconscious, or memory, or I can have seen a very powerful artwork created by someone else that leaves a strong mental imprint. At other times, I may not have an idea at all, and so I begin playing with forms, objects, and figures until a new visual invention arises.
Whether I work towards a planned idea or not, there is always a very strong improvisational component to each artwork I produce. The moment I create a set and start placing objects, figures, and props inside it, improvisation occurs. This is one of the most enjoyable phases of production.”

What process, materials and techniques do you use to create your artwork?

“For the first 20 years of my studio life, I was a traditional artist using acrylic paint and brushes to create images on stretched canvases. I was always one to want to try the newest explorations in image making. So, in the early 1990s, I converted all my traditional studio processes to ones which used digital tools and techniques. This was a very difficult and demanding activity and the new tools took almost 6 months to learn to control effectively. I was extremely impressed with how these new tools accelerated my creative abilities and allowed me to explore entirely new visionary ideas and projects. I was able to work more quickly, my techniques keeping pace with the speed of my mind. I could change and alter the entire painting at any stage of the process. Entire transformations could occur to match any change in my ideas. The new tools and techniques exercised and challenged my entire process of thinking in ways I had never experienced with traditional tools. I started to gain a new power in my creative direction. I started to realize that anything that could be imagined could be created.
In my digital studio, I use a customized routine for creating an image. I employ a complex studio pipeline consisting of a variety of digital programs and processes to help me construct my images. This pipeline moves through two distinct phases.
Phase One – This involves work in 3D environments. I begin by gathering 3D models (objects and figures) and then posing and arranging them on a stage set. I either build new models for the project or use/modify ones from my existing inventory. This phase is very theatrical. Here, I work through multiple lighting designs and camera angles, playing with color, texture, atmosphere, and aesthetic design. This concept may be based on a planned idea but is usually highly improvisational in nature. When the correct composition has been modeled and a set camera position established, multiple individual photographs (called renders) are taken of this posed composition. These rendered photographs are then moved to Phase two.
Phase Two - This involves work in a 2D environment (Photoshop). Here, I stack all the rendered photographs one over the other, in layers, in the order the elements in the composition appear. These photographs/layers are processed, manipulated, and merged using a variety of digital techniques such as painting, cutting, trimming, shaping, shading, and textural overlay. When I'm satisfied, the layers are all collapsed into one final high resolution image. This image is then used for online exhibitions or printed to canvas and stretched and framed.
Throughout this complex studio process, I play the role of inventor, photographer, set designer, director, scriptwriter, painter, stagehand, 3D composer, and graphic artist.
The process of constructing an image can take from two to five days. My goal is to build six or seven new images a month. I feel this is the minimum number to create if I'm going to be expanding my aesthetic development and growth in any authentic way.”

What does your art mean to you?

“My art has many avenues of meaning for me. It provides me with a powerful form of creative expression, allows me to challenge my aesthetic skills inside a complex studio environment, grounds my metaphysics and spirituality inside a discipline, installs a meditative platform in my life, and lets me perform within an international exhibition circuit.
Form of Expression:
My mind is constantly active with ideas, thoughts, and dreams. I've always sought methods of communication to bring all these inner concepts into the world as creative objects. My art means that I have an avenue for creative expression, a language that is constantly evolving, pushing me to innovate, change, and move forward. I've been expressing myself visually for over 60 years and have learned how to speak in images in a manner that comes close to my own inner ideas. I've been working on honing and expanding this language of expression all my life. Each day in the studio is yet one more opportunity to further polish and elaborate this evolving visual grammar.
Studio Practise:
My art studio is a comprehensive environment which consists of many mechanisms for bringing creative products into being. It is filled with tools and techniques for building, innovating, and documenting mental realities and their consequent translations into observable artworks. I awake each morning and enter the studio, anticipating the ignition of spirit and mind that will take me into further explorations of my own psyche. The studio is the place where I live through each thought, idea, and inspiration, and transform generated mental and emotional energy into digital imagery. I enjoy the mental challenge of working through the intricate pipeline of activity that takes me from mental idea to finished product.
Philosophical/Spiritual Direction:
My art production is driven by the desire to share my impressions of various psychological and spiritual concerns.
I am philosophically driven and seek theological channels into which my artwork can easily fit. I focus on concepts and themes such as consciousness, angst, despair, and mortality. Each completed artwork becomes another component part of the whole existential enigma. Much of my studio life involves reading current thinkers in science, theology, physics, and virtual intelligence. Through contemplation and reflection, the studio then becomes a place where I combine these ideas with constructed visual expressions. There is one other philosophical dimension provided by my ability to create artworks. It means that in a world of disappearing time and ephemeral events, something I make has a certain degree of solidity and may even survive my own ultimate demise.”

“Meditation:
During studio practice, the world disappears in the concentrated focus of attention that dominates the construction of an image. Ten hours can disappear like fifteen minutes in the passion of this transcendent activity. This is my main and only form of meditation, a powerful inner experience in which time and space become secondary actors in the drama of existence.
Exhibition Circuit Performance:
My studio practice results in finished artwork which then allows me to display and exhibit it in a variety of venues. For me, this is like a performance theater in which my work makes contact with viewers. My intention is to develop an audience that resonates with my aesthetic and philosophical values. In trying to construct this theater, I've used a variety of different approaches, from large physical galleries to print publications. I'm currently focused on digital exhibitions. I use Facebook and Instagram to post new theatrical experiences every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings. Other theaters I employ include international juried exhibitions, online publications, and some old attempts at using a variety of YouTube Channels. At this time in my career, I'm really reluctant to try a brick and mortar gallery. This would force me to organize my creative life around an external administrative control. Right now, I'm the only one in control. I'm a free-lance fine artist pushing my creative products into public view through Facebook, Online Exhibitions, and Publication in online Magazines. This keeps me working fairly steadily, at least ten hours a day.
Meaning is an essential concept in my studio life. I seek meaning through a sense of inner vision I possess. I work towards something always ahead of me. It moves as I move and I am drawn to its bright light and seek to live in its radiance in the act of creation. I work tirelessly towards the new idea, the unborn thought, the next step in the evolution towards knowledge.”

What’s your favorite artwork and why?

“For me, any artwork becomes ‘favored’ because:
- it contains a unique eccentric oddity (arrangement, juxtaposition, incongruity)
- it contains interesting aesthetic usages of elements and principles of design
- it solves aesthetic problems in unusual and innovative ways.
It is probably not often that all of these criteria are present at one time in one image. So, in reality, I have a variety of favored works, each satisfying one or more of the elements. I always appreciate any art that is odd, surrealistic, or slightly eccentric in some way. So, in most cases, the first criterion (eccentric oddity) ends up being the most prominent in my selection of favored works.
‘Favored’ works become examples I return to again and again, for inspiration, entertainment, or learning. Because there are so many works that contain these criteria, there is not just one work that fits this category. Within my daily studio practice, I usually spend an hour or so online, just searching art images, finding realms of brilliant artwork that offers me inspiration and learning. Among these, different artworks will be favored for different things. And, as I grow and my style evolves, I begin to favor different types of work which offer resolutions for the new directions I'm pursuing.
I have hundreds of favored works. New works are added daily while old works disappear from the list. But, there is another ‘favored’ category that occupies me just as much. That is the category of favored ‘artist’. It is easier to favor this category and it is probably easier to list ‘some’ favored artists than it is to list favored artworks:
- Hieronymus Bosch
- Rene Magritte
- Leonora Carrington
- Zdzislaw Beksinski
- Ray Caesar
- Kay Sage.”

Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you'd like to share?

“I'm going to write about a previous exhibition of my own here. In my gallery career, I've managed to exhibit in over 200 international juried exhibitions. Many of these have been noteworthy, but there is one that stands out as being a fairly major experience.
This was the major international solo invitational exhibition held at the Contemporary Art Center (Centro de Arte Contemporáneo - CAC) in Málaga, Spain in 2021. You can see more of this exhibition here and here.
Note - The CAC is considered one of the most important contemporary art facilities in Europe, having hosted exhibitions by noted artists such as Damien Hirst, Gerhard Richter, Mark Ryden, Louise Bourgeois, Paul McCartney, Alex Katz, Miquel Barceló, Jack Pierson, Thomas Hirschhorn, Neo Rauch, and many more. Málaga is also the birthplace of Picasso.
In 2020, while living in Guanajuato, Mexico, I received an invitation from CAC to mount a solo exhibition at their facility in Spain. I accepted this offer and spent the next 17 months working on the artworks which would comprise this exhibition. This opportunity was challenging in many respects. The gallery space allotted to his show was very large and required the production of many framed artworks. Up to this point, most of my work had been exhibited in online and digital exhibitions. This was a chance to try my work in a very large gallery setting. I was curious to see how so much digital work would translate into a physical environment and the impact it would have on viewers. It was also an opportunity to construct new mechanisms of production in my studio:
- Designing large-scale canvas,
- printing with pigment ink on canvas,
- stretching and framing.
Note - This was the first solo show held by a Canadian artist in Picasso's birthplace.
My solo exhibition was called, ‘The Silence of Eternity’ and consisted of 70 artworks featuring theatrical mannequin-like figures who posture in self-reflective attitudes of existential anxiety, stilled by the weight of an eternity that remains unknown and silent. The exhibition ran at the CAC from June 18 to September 11, 2021. I was given promotion in over 40 European magazines and received much online support and commentary. This major exhibition provided a positive introduction to my work for European audiences.
This opportunity offered a host of challenges that tested my digital studio techniques to the limit. This allowed me a vast experimental process in pushing my production through the entire process, to a final physical product.”

Website: www.berglandart.com

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