Simonette Berry

Simonette Berry is a multimedia artist from New Orleans who also works as an artist, designer, and producer in the film and television industry. She is interested in social rituals, the dream world, the human body, martial arts, and exploring the artistic process in new and unusual ways. Each project chooses its own medium. Simonette describes her fine art style as “Magic Realism,” inspired by the literary style that bears the same name. In addition to painting in her home studio, she paints plein-air landscapes when she travels, and is drawn to painting water. She uses a Mardi Gras cup full of the water she’s painting to mix in with her colors. "I try to capture not only what the eye sees but what lies just beneath the fabric of reality, one step into the next world, " she says. Her newest series, which will debut at the RAW showcase, highlights the mixed martial arts practitioners she trains with. Each canvas features a portrait of a fighter, and each represents aspects of the fight in the human spirit, the thing inside of us that won’t give up. She uses variegated metallic gold and copper leaf on each canvas. This metal leaf has been treated with chemicals and heat to create a stunning array of sunset hues. The process of using heat and abrasion to create something beautiful is similar to what fighters and martial artists do to their bodies, pushing themselves past the limit time and time again to achieve their goals. Pressure makes diamonds. Everyone fights for something, and pain is part of that process.