Kayla Bernard 

21kbernard@gmail.com

Thesis

Works:


Based in New York


























In an exploration through 16mm and medium format, digital processes, and alternative techniques. She creates worlds that transcend conventional reality. Her work delves into diasporic temporal boundaries, connecting past, present, and future while embracing themes of identity, escapism, afro-surrealism, and a touch of kitsch. Through her photography and performativestorytelling, Bernard constructslayered narratives—both silent and sound-based—that invite viewers on a conceptual journey to uncover deeper meanings of existence and sensuality.















There is no place on this earth where I will receive a full fresh breath of air. It's painful to smell wood burning and having joyful memories of campfires, and summertime, to be immediately reminded that nature set itself on fire.


Using photography and sculpture to produce images that represent pain, ephemera, softness, and bodily disillusionment, I explore what it means to be present in reality. Softness meets discomfort, creating a visual language that explores curiosity, pain, sensuality, and the ethereal. I reflected on what it means to feel present within the body, yet simultaneously estranged from it. I examine intimate, transient experiences that hint at the beauty and unease of one’s physical awareness.  Drawing on themes like the African diaspora, spatial and temporal histories, and identity from my earlier work, now I aim to dig deeper, narrowing my focus to evoke subtle visceral sensations. The project reflects a sense of being “lost within,” navigating spaces where the familiar feels intangible.


Works 


Elodie & The Bunny
This project is rooted in the ideals of Afro- surrealism—“the idea that beyond the realm of our    current reality exists an invisible world waiting to be uncovered”. Afro-surrealism imagery traverses diasporic and temporal boundaries, seamlessly connecting past, present, and future. In the same    way, I am blurring the lines between fantasy and reality. 


Beloved Pariah 
16mm film Inspired by Voodou and Beloved by Toni Morrison in the way apparitions play in religion haunting in the present. The film is about a woman looking back at herself and trying to escape herself.


The Conditions of 
The Cosmos 

 Zine

looking into the liminal space bewtween physical 
existence and metaphorical being, inviting viewers to                           consider realities beyond the tangible.  


Ongoing

Images that have not yet found a series . 




 


Works 


 Elodie & The Bunny
This project is rooted in the ideals of Afro- surrealism—“the idea that beyond the realm of our    current reality exists an invisible world waiting to be uncovered”. Afro-surrealism imagery traverses diasporic and temporal boundaries, seamlessly connecting past, present, and future. In the same    way, I am blurring the lines between fantasy and reality. 


Beloved Pariah 
16mm film Inspired by Voodou and Beloved by Toni Morrison in the way apparitions play in religion haunting in the present. The film is about a woman looking back at herself and trying to escape herself.


The Conditions of 
The Cosmos 

 Zine

looking into the liminal space bewtween physical 
existence and metaphorical being, inviting viewers to                           consider realities beyond the tangible.  

Ongoing

Images that have not yet found a series . 







 


Works 


 Elodie & The Bunny
This project is rooted in the ideals of Afro- surrealism—“the idea that beyond the realm of our    current reality exists an invisible world waiting to be uncovered”. Afro-surrealism imagery traverses diasporic and temporal boundaries, seamlessly connecting past, present, and future. In the same    way, I am blurring the lines between fantasy and reality. 


Beloved Pariah 
16mm film Inspired by Voodou and Beloved by Toni Morrison in the way apparitions play in religion haunting in the present. The film is about a woman looking back at herself and trying to escape herself.


The Conditions of 
The Cosmos 

 Zine

looking into the liminal space bewtween physical 
existence and metaphorical being, inviting viewers to                           consider realities beyond the tangible.  


Ongoing

Images that have not yet found a series . 




 


Works 


 Elodie & The Bunny
This project is rooted in the ideals of Afro- surrealism—“the idea that beyond the realm of our    current reality exists an invisible world waiting to be uncovered”. Afro-surrealism imagery traverses diasporic and temporal boundaries, seamlessly connecting past, present, and future. In the same    way, I am blurring the lines between fantasy and reality. 


Beloved Pariah 
16mm film Inspired by Voodou and Beloved by Toni Morrison in the way apparitions play in religion haunting in the present. The film is about a woman looking back at herself and trying to escape herself.


The Conditions of 
The Cosmos 

 Zine

looking into the liminal space bewtween physical 
existence and metaphorical being, inviting viewers to                           consider realities beyond the tangible.  


Ongoing
Images that have not yet found a series .