Land & Light: The Elemental Visions of Alex Bernstein and Martin Blundell
At Blue Rain Gallery, we celebrate the diversity and innovation of contemporary art—particularly when two artists with contrasting mediums intersect through a shared reverence for nature. In the works of Alex Bernstein and Martin Blundell, we witness a conversation between light and land, solidity and motion, glass and oil—two elemental visions rooted in transformation.
Alex Bernstein: Sculpting the Story of Stone and Light
Born into a family of pioneering glass artists, Alex Bernstein was raised with a reverence for craftsmanship and creativity. His glass sculptures speak the language of geology—evoking mineral formations, ice flows, and crystalline structures shaped by time and force.
Bernstein’s work is not merely decorative—it is narrative. Using a sophisticated combination of carving, casting, and polishing, he coaxes from glass a spectrum of texture and tone. Some pieces incorporate fused steel, adding structural tension and a sense of industrial contrast. Many of his sculptures resemble cross-sections of earth or meteorological events captured mid-transformation, with gradients that glow as if lit from within.
Each work is both monument and memory—silent testaments to the processes of oxidation, erosion, and emergence. They feel timeless yet alive, inviting viewers to reflect on the invisible energies that shape the natural world.
“I explore the visual depth of glass while also embracing its metaphorical power,” Bernstein says. “Through these forms, I am telling a story about change and endurance.”
Martin Blundell: Painting the Pulse of the West
In contrast to Bernstein’s sculptural glasswork, Martin Blundell captures the wide-open spaces of the American Southwest with a painter’s eye for light and atmosphere. Born in Utah and formally trained at the University of Utah, Blundell’s approach to landscape painting is at once traditional and contemporary.
Working primarily in oils with both brush and palette knife, Blundell layers pigment with rich texture and vibrant clarity. His paintings are meditations on the land—from mesa-lined horizons to the slow creep of rain clouds across red deserts. There’s a palpable emotion in his skies and sandstone cliffs, as though the landscape itself is exhaling, pulsing, remembering.
His palette captures the dramatic contrasts of the region: glowing ochres, dusky violets, deep greens, and thundercloud grays. Viewers familiar with the Four Corners region will recognize the terrain, but Blundell’s gift lies in how he conveys not just what these places look like—but how they feel.
“I’m drawn to moments of transition—where light changes, weather shifts, or colors collide,” Blundell explains. “The goal is to make the viewer feel the land’s heartbeat.”
Shared Visions: Nature Reimagined
Though their mediums differ—one sculpting glass, the other painting with oil—both artists illuminate the power of place. They are interpreters of the earth: one working with the fire-born fragility of glass, the other with the timeless tactility of paint.
Bernstein and Blundell remind us that landscape is not just scenery—it is story. Their works invite contemplation, urging us to pause, reflect, and reconnect with the elemental forces that shape our world.
Visit Blue Rain Gallery
We invite you to experience the works of Alex Bernstein and Martin Blundell at Blue Rain Gallery in Santa Fe. Together, their work offers a striking visual dialogue—where mountain meets mineral, and light dances between canvas and crystal.
