Hopper and Bernice

Kentucky artist Jay Bolotin combines twin pursuits in art and music in highly original theatrical productions, such as The Hidden Boy and Limbus: A Mechanical Opera, which incorporates human actors and the artist’s giant mechanical sculptures. In his print portfolios, Bolotin draws inspiration from literary sources, such as William Blake’s work, which has a close affinity to Bolotin’s own complex and ambiguous narratives. Bernice and Hopper are two of Bolotin’s stock characters who, in sculptures and reliefs, act out various roles and personal dramas. According to the artist, Hopper’s name means ‘to hop,’ as in to move or to change, and that the masks worn by his figures are indicative of the mutability of ‘truth.’