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Jen Bervin is an Iowa artist who grew up in Dubuque on the Mississippi River. Currently, Bervin’s piece entitled “River” is being displayed at the Des Moines Art Center’s Pei Addition. Bervin has long been interested in art: making and learning. 

“I have always been a very curious thinker, and I have always been in a toggle between the conceptual and the more material approach,” Bervin said. “But I see all of it as quite interconnected, and for me it all comes very naturally. My work took a turn to writing and poetry in graduate school, and now I pretty seamlessly combine the two.” 

Bervin currently teaches full time at Rhode Island School of Design in the glass department and divides her time between teaching, studio practice, writing and researching.  

According to a brochure produced by the Des Moines Art Center, “River” maps the Mississippi River from the headwaters in Lake Itasca, Minnesota to its delta, south of New Orleans, where it meets the Gulf of Mexico. Bervin estimates that it took her about the same amount of time to sew each section of the river that it would take to walk the actual river. 

“River” is made of many materials, primarily hand-sewn, silver foil-stamped, cloth sequins. Along with the cloth sequins, Bervin used metallic thread, silver mulberry paper, mull and a flash spun high-density fabric, Tyvek. Kendra Piatz, Director and Chief Curator at University Galleries of Illinois State University wrote an essay admiring Bervin’s masterpiece. She wrote about how Bervin created River by sorting through sequins, separating the usable and unusable, then stitching them on with metallic thread.

 “The fundamental properties of the piece were clear to me from the beginning, like the geocentric scale model,” Bervin said. “The scale is one inch to one mile.” 

Over the course of 12 years, Bervin sewed a 250 curvilinear-feet-long sculpture by hand, including each of the reflective silver sequins that densely cover the surface. 

Following a delicate sparkling path to a magnificent map of the Mississippi River, the artwork crawls the concrete ceiling leading to the majority of it displayed on the far wall. The whole piece is impossible to see at one time from one spot. 

“This piece of work is one of the most abstract works I have done because I still don’t entirely understand where it came from or what it means,” Bervin said. 

However, the Des Moines Art Center’s art curator, Alison Ferris, believes that Bervin was striving to give the sense of water and how it moves and sparkles. She also believes that Bervin may have a personal connection with the artwork, as she grew up on the river with it being part of her heritage and memories. 

Bervin, however, wants the audience to decide for themselves what the piece means. 

“I don’t think I have language for (the meaning of the piece) honestly,” Bervin said. “If I did, the piece would have more language in it perhaps. At this point, it’s for you. I spent (a long time) making the work, and it’s finally at the point where it can let the viewers be interpreters. It’s you now who gets to make that call.”

“Importantly, ‘River’ is still and quiet; there is no sound component, and there are no rushing waters,” Piatz said. “Instead, Bervin’s sequins take advantage of silver’s reflectivity and the abundance of natural light in the Pei addition, conjuring trails of glittering stars and reinforcing profound connections between the earth, water and celestial bodies.”

“River” has been exhibited internationally and has been quite successful. Recently Bervin followed the piece to Des Moines to help with the installation at the Des Moines Art Center. 

“It was nice being in Des Moines. I got quite a lot of feedback from the museum staff and from tour groups coming through. One of my favorite moments being a fourth-grade tour,” Bervin said. “I love having grown up in Iowa and getting to see students be inspired by the art.” 

The exhibit will be in the Des Moines Art Center until January 27, 2019, and admission to the Des Moines Art Center is free.