Bert Gilbert’s iterative, cross-disciplinary practice conjures esoteric mystery rituals, folkloric storytelling and somatic resonance. Her work is designed to invoke and embody liminal thresholds, examining how they are crossed, by whom, and under what conditions. She explores the aesthetics of trauma and transformation as conduits for reconnection—with the self, the earth, and the collective unconscious.

Using the narrative and haptic qualities of materials, the work seeks to re-embody, re-enchant, and restore the ruins of our archaic histories. It is an act of remembrance—rekindling lost connections between human perception and the sentience of the natural world—communicated through a mycelium-like network of mixed media. Her practice is kinetic and obsessive, unfolding on a cosmic time frame and deeply engaged with altered states of being. Through a contemporary reinterpretation of primordial cosmologies, she reveals the esoteric as a form of mundane magic—one that collides with the everyday through myth, trauma, and transcendence

In-depth research and immersive fieldwork with Indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon and the Atacama Desert in Chile have expanded her exploration of bridging ancient cosmologies with understandings of heart-brain coherence and collective connection. Gilbert employs somatic shadow work to overcome biological, spiritual, and psychological trauma, which she recodifies into an infrastructure of portals activated by the audience's sensory perception alongside universal elements.

Forging a visceral, fearless language of queered, hybrid symbologies—infused with humour—where rapture meets taboo, and materials speak in tongues. She sees the artist as a sensor, translating whispers of the unseen into a language the body remembers. (Sometimes, these are screams.)

She has shown internationally since 2006, most recently, a site specific work, The Vesica was shown at Somerset House, London and has a ongoing collaborative practice:The Sinistry with artist Izzet Ers (represented by Tamara Chabli of iterarte.)

“BERT GILBERT IS A BREATHING WORK OF ART.”

BRIT PARKS, UNPOLISHED MAGAZINE

“Gilbert’s work may be humorous and sly, but it’s also unflinching in bearing witness to physical and emotional abuse, and biological grief. It counters the trauma with its antidote, the power of resilience, the talismans of the sacred feminine and procreation. Personal, but also species, survival.”

ISABEL DE VASCONCELLOS

“Personal and societal transformation are channelled directly through the body of the artist in the ritualistic works of Bert Gilbert.

Gilbert’s interdisciplinary works include performance, costume, photography, fetishistic objects and 2D works. Not afraid to broach sexuality and obsession Bert has gained a reputation for pushing the audience to confront underlying desires and taboo,

There are allusions to Jungian analytical psychology perhaps most obviously in the works, ‘Shadow of my Former Self’ and ‘Animus’ and to alchemy and symbolism throughout the artists practice,

The attitude, frankness and originality of the artist makes her a highly potent force and this is sadly a quality which is often lacking in an increasingly po-faced art world.

Her performances can be seen as essential interventions, calling for malleability in a congealing culture. “