BAWDY Season One: Joy Bernal Creates a World of Creative Freedom

On Saturday, September 28, 2019, a group of creative individuals gathered together at Incuspace in Philadelphia to showcase art that challenges comfort, promotes perspective and understanding, and encourages self-awareness. Artists, designers, and anyone curious was invited to attend Season One of The BAWDY Series, a series developed by Joy Bernal.

I was invited to the event by a friend. When I looked up the kind of art that was going to be displayed, I wasn’t sure I would be able to hold a conversation with anyone. My usual style of photography is travel photography and I can easily talk to people about their travel stories. Here, all the artists were locals and their start was in the streets, a style I am not used to.

However, as I started to talk to each one of them, asking them about their stories and the meaning behind each piece, I was pleased and relieved that I was able to connect with them so easily. All the artists had a different story. Fascinating ones. I learned how the colorful blocks used as the logo of Urbane were a reminder of their recovery from cancer and how a mother and daughter started Meraki Market together when her grandmother passed away because of her grandmother’s love for simple things. People’s minds are amazing things, they go in all different directions. But, if you give it a chance, there will always be a common ground.

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This past weekend I caught a glimpse of the world I've spent a lifetime dreaming of. With the love and support of some incredible people, I was able to bring together artists and entrepreneurs of all kinds, celebrating their work and themselves, sharing their stories alongside me and my team. I'm still trying to wrap my head around everything we've accomplished. Thank you to everyone who purchased a ticket and helped sell out our first official show. Thank you to my friends and family for putting up with my crazy ass throughout this entire process. And thank you to all the Feature Artists, to my Season 1 Team, and to everyone that helped bring this insane idea to life. Welcome to A World of Creative Freedom. Onto Season 2 ✊🏽 @bawdyseries . . 📸 @shotbythebird x @picturethisphilly

A post shared by Joy (@joyornah) on Oct 3, 2019 at 12:32pm PDT

BAWDY Season One contained five chapters: influence, indecent, shape, faces, absent. Each chapter was displayed as an arrangement of photos beautifully hung from the ceiling accompanied by an array of flowers.

“I wanted people to see the photos in person before seeing it online. Because the Series hits a deeper level, I wanted to approach the presentation in a way that forces people to take their time and absorb each image, rather than scrolling through their phone screens,” says Joy. “On top of that, it’s been a goal of mine to find a way to give artists a space to show the world what they’ve got, so we used this as an opportunity to share the moment with others who feel as deeply for their work as we do.”

She also took the time to explain what each chapter meant to her:

Chapter 1: INFLUENCE – INFLUENCE represents the challenges as well as the result of growing up between two cultures and finding your place in the world. Although this can be applied to several different instances, we focused specifically on Asian-Americans since that hit home for all three of us.

Chapter 2: INDECENT – INDECENT is all about freedom of self. It showcases the beauty and resilience we possess both internally and externally when we accept who we are and reach our fullest potential regardless of the world’s restrictions.

Chapter 3: SHAPE – Self-image is something I think everyone struggles with. SHAPE showcases the physical insecurities that we’ve worked our whole lives to overcome. The chapter goes through the “I wish I had your ____” to the “I love my ____”. It captures the beauty in diversity and promotes the importance of self-love.

Chapter 4: FACES – Most of us refuse to speak about our traumatic experiences, our anxiety, or depression, whether it’s due to fear, pride, culture, etc. FACES is meant to stress the importance of speaking on the feelings we’ve buried within ourselves. It’s a reminder that although we experience different situations, we share similar effects from our individual stories. You’re not alone.

Chapter 5: ABSENT – ABSENT represents passion vs. stability. It illustrates the sense of fulfillment you possess when pursuing your passion, specifically in art, as well as a loss of self when relinquishing your purpose to pursue wealth.

Along with Joy’s work, she invited 12 additional artists to join her in sharing their work.

“I was looking for artists that took their work seriously. I wanted all types of art involved, so I looked for work that made an impact on me. It didn’t matter how experienced they were or how well-known they were. I wanted individuals that told a story and represented themselves in their work.”

Among the artists were designers, photographers, painters, illustrators, and more. Having the chance to talk to some of the artists, I learned something great: “give people and their work a chance.”

Talk to people. Learn the meaning behind things: what they do, why they do it. The value of something becomes so much greater when we understand the story behind it. We might bypass a picture quickly online if it is not our style but if we knew the story behind it, we gain a greater appreciation and understanding for it.

“True support can make anything possible. I knew this was true before, but I witnessed it firsthand that day,” says Joy. “My friends and family did so much to help everything run smoothly. It wouldn’t have been a success without them. If you’re putting together an event, a project, starting a business, whatever, build a solid team that believes in what you do.”