Dr Kathryn Hardy Bernal
About
Dr Kathryn A. Hardy Bernal, PhD, MPhil(Hons), BArtTh(Hons), is currently Head of Research and Postgraduate Studies across the campuses of Yoobee College of Creative Innovation (Auckland, Christchurch, Rotorua, Wellington). She is a critical theorist, social and cultural historian, researcher, writer, publisher, creator, and curator of art, design, fashion, costume, textiles, film, drama, subculture, gender, and psychoanalytical anthropology. Her research examines the cross-cultural transmigration of ideas and belief systems, especially pertaining to visual and material artefacts. She is professionally ranked by the New Zealand government’s Tertiary Education Commission as a specialist in Humanities and Law: History of Art and Design, History, Classics, and Curatorial Studies. Her prolific experience in the arts sector includes tertiary teaching, editorial, and curatorial roles, including senior lecturing and programme leadership positions at several leading New Zealand and Australian universities.
Dr Hardy Bernal’s transdisciplinary Doctor of Philosophy thesis in Visual and Material Culture explores the development of a Mexican gothic fashion-based subcultural movement and its evolution from its Japanese foundations. It investigates the conditions that encourage this subculture to flourish in the Mexican environment, particularly in relation to Mexico’s social, cultural, and religious history and beliefs. Surveys and field studies were undertaken in Mexico in order to analyse the Mexican movement in context with traditional, historical, and indigenous frameworks and contemporary Mexican popular culture and society. She also critically analyses ways in which the movement reflects and departs from the psychology and philosophies of the original Japanese subculture, especially regarding socio-cultural and gender-based politics. In this sense, her doctoral thesis demonstrates a progression from her Master of Philosophy study, which focusses on the psychoanalysis of participation in the original Japanese subcultural movement.
Dr Hardy Bernal’s methodologies stem from her art-historical training and background. Her undergraduate research, undertaken for her Bachelor of Art Theory Honours degree, was tailored towards Museum and Curatorial Studies, History, Art and Design History and Theory, and Gender Studies. As such, she reads visual and material culture through the processes of Iconology, Semiology, and Psychoanalytic Art History. She also employs qualitative methods of Sociology and Anthropology, such as Ethnographic Studies, and the Insider/Outsider approach to data collection.
PhD: Doctor of Philosophy (Visual and Material Culture) Massey University, College of Creative Arts, Wellington, New Zealand, 2020
Thesis: Lolita Latina: An Examination of Gothic and Lolita Style in the Mexican Environment
MPhil(Hons): Master of Philosophy with First-class Honours (Art and Design) Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand, 2011
Thesis: The Lolita Complex: A Japanese Fashion Subculture and Its Paradoxes
BArtTh(Hons): Bachelor of Art Theory with First-division Honours (Art History and Theory) University of New South Wales, College of Fine Arts, Sydney, Australia, 2003
Certificate in Tertiary Teaching
University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, 2003
Curatorial Assistant (Internship)
Leighton House Museum and Art Gallery, London, United Kingdom, 1999
Certificate in Visual Merchandising (Fashion Merchandising)
Sydney College of Technical and Further Education (TAFE), Sydney, Australia, 1984
Certificate in Showcard and Ticket Writing (Graphic Design)
Sydney College of Technical and Further Education (TAFE), Sydney, Australia, 1983
Art History and Theory, Design History and Theory, Fashion Studies, Costume Studies, Film Studies, Subcultural Theory, Culture Studies, Visual and Material Culture, Museum Studies, English Literature, History, Ancient History, Medieval Studies, Gothic Studies, Popular Culture Studies, Gender Studies.
Research Outputs
Publications
Theses and Dissertations (Open Access)
Hardy Bernal, K. A. (2019). Lolita Latina: An examination of Gothic and Lolita style in the Mexican environment [PhD, Doctor of Philosophy thesis, Massey University]. Massey Research Online. https://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/15329
Hardy Bernal, K. A. (2011). The Lolita Complex: A Japanese fashion subculture and its paradoxes [MPhil(Hons), Master of Philosophy thesis, Auckland University of Technology]. Tuwhera. https://openrepository.aut.ac.nz/handle/10292/2448
Books
Hardy Bernal, K. A. (2018). Lolita through the looking-glass: Alice, the Japanese Lolita subculture, and the Lolita complex. In A. Peirson-Smith & J. Hancock II (Eds.), Transglobal fashion narratives: Clothing communication, style statements, and brand storytelling (pp. 91-114). Intellect. ISBN: 978-1-783-20844-9.
Hardy Bernal, K. A. (2012). Japanese Lolita: Challenging sexualized style and the little-girl look. In S. Tarrant & M. Jolles (Eds.), Fashion talks: Undressing the power of style (pp. 117-132). State University of New York (SUNY) Press. ISBN: 978-1-438-44319-5.
eBooks
Hardy Bernal, K. A. (2017). Latina Lolita: Gender politics and the Gothic and Lolita subculture in Mexico. In P. Mountfort (Ed.). Peer-reviewed Proceedings of the 8th Annual Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand (PopCAANZ) Conference, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand (pp. 138 – 146). PopCAANZ. ISBN: 978-0-473-41892-2.
Journal Articles
Hardy Bernal, K. A. (2017). Antonio Álvarez Morán: Los misterios de las monjas vampiras (the mysteries of the vampire nuns) [Review of the film Los misterios de las monjas vampiras, by A. Álvarez Morán (Director)]. Journal of Asia-Pacific Pop Culture 2(2), 253-259. https://doi.org/10.5325/jasiapacipopcult.2.2.253
Hardy Bernal, K. A. (2017). Deborah Shamoon and Chris McMorran: Teaching Japanese popular culture [Review of the book Teaching Japanese popular culture, by D. Shamoon, & C. McMorran]. Journal of Asia-Pacific Pop Culture 2(1), 119-122. https://doi.org/10.5325/jasiapacipopcult.2.1.0119
Hardy Bernal, K. (2016). Performing Lolita: The Japanese Gothic and Lolita subculture and constructing identity through virtual space. Journal of Asia-Pacific Pop Culture 1(1), 79-102. https://doi.org/10.5325/jasiapacipopcult.1.1.0079
Chuang, B. K. Y., & Hardy Bernal, K. A. (2008). Loli-pop in Auckland: Engaging Asian communities and audiences through the museum. Sites: A Journal of Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies 5(2), 81-110. https://doi.org/10.11157/sites-vol5iss2id103
Other
Hardy Bernal, K. A. (2016). Lolita. In Bloomsbury Fashion Photography Archive. Bloomsbury Fashion Central. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781474260428-FPA158
Hardy Bernal, K. (2007, Spring). Lolita in Japan. MQ (Museum Quarterly): The Quarterly Magazine of Auckland War Memorial Museum (112), 33.
Bernal, K. (1999). Legendary Journeys: Craig Judd, Tim Schultz, Wendy Sharpe, Margaret Snowdon [Exhibition catalogue]. The Greek Festival of Sydney, Kudos Gallery, Sydney, Australia.
Creative Works
Hardy Bernal, K. (Curator). (2007, September 15-November 26). Loli-pop: A downtown Auckland view on Japanese street fashion [Exhibition]. Auckland War Memorial Museum, Auckland, New Zealand.
Hardy Bernal, K. (2007). Amorette (Five-piece garment). Loli-pop: A downtown Auckland view on Japanese street fashion [Exhibition]. Auckland War Memorial Museum, Auckland, New Zealand.
Bernal, K. (Curator). (1999, March). Legendary Journeys: Craig Judd, Tim Schultz, Wendy Sharpe, Margaret Snowdon [Exhibition]. The Greek Festival of Sydney, Kudos Gallery, Sydney, Australia
Conferences
Hardy Bernal, K. A. (2023, April 3-6). In memoriam, in praesentia: La Calavera Catrina and embodiment through a Mexican aesthetic expression of a subcultural gothic fashion style [Conference paper presentation]. Ara Honohono Connecting Pathways: 25th Annual IFFTI (International Foundation of Fashion Technology Institutes) Conference, Otago Polytechnic, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Hardy Bernal, K. A. (2022, December 14-16). An anniversary reflection on Eiko Ishioka’s Orientalisation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula [Conference paper presentation]. Media, Culture, and Society: The Inaugural International Academic Conference of Up Education (Australia and New Zealand), Yoobee College of Creative Innovation, Auckland, New Zealand.
Weston, N. J., & Hardy Bernal, K. A. (2022, September 13-14). A Discovery of Witches, a blue and orange landscape: Colour coding and unconscious orthogonal morality schemata in film and television [Conference paper presentation]. See and Be Seen: An Interdisciplinary Conference on Storytelling and Identity in Popular Culture, Popular Culture Research Centre, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand [Online].
Hardy Bernal, K. A. (2022, July 14-16). The woman in blue: An iconographic study of Lady Macbeth (2016) [Conference paper presentation]. EUPOP 2022: The Ninth Annual International Conference of the EPCA (European Popular Culture Association), Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland (Online).
Hardy Bernal, K. A. (2018, July 2-4). Marianismo, the divine feminine, and the Gothic Lolita identity in Mexico [Conference paper presentation]. 9th Annual International PopCAANZ (Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand) Conference, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand.
Hardy Bernal, K. (2017, July 18-21). Lolita Gótica Mexicana: The Gothic and Lolita subculture in Mexico [Conference paper presentation]. Gothic Traditions and Departures: 13th Biennial Conference of the IGA (International Gothic Association), Universidad de las Américas, Puebla (UDLAP), San Andres, Cholula, Mexico.
Hardy Bernal, K. A. (2017, July 10-11). Latina Lolita: Gender politics and the Gothic and Lolita subculture in Mexico [Conference paper presentation]. 8th Annual International PopCAANZ (Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand) Conference, College of Creative Arts, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand.
Hardy Bernal, K. A. (2016, June 29-July 1). What is gothic about Lolita? The Gosurori and the origins of the Japanese Gothic & Lolita movement [conference paper presentation]. 7th Annual International PopCAANZ (Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand) Conference, Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
Hardy Bernal, K. A. (2015, June 29-July 1). Lolita in cyberspace: Performing identity via online Lolita fashion subculture communities [Conference paper presentation]. 6th Annual International PopCAANZ (Popular Culture of Australia and New Zealand) Conference, College of Creative Arts, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand.
Hardy Bernal, K. A. (2014, June 12-14). Lolita meets Alice in wonderland [Conference paper presentation]. Fashion in Fiction: Style Stories and Transglobal Narratives, City University, Hong Kong, China.
Hardy Bernal, K. A. (2013, August 5-8). Lolita in virtual space: Constructing identity and the globalisation of the Japanese Gothic & Lolita subculture via online communities [Conference paper presentation]. Gothic Technologies/Gothic Techniques: 11th Biennial Conference of the IGA (International Gothic Association), University of Surrey, Guildford, England.
Hardy Bernal, K. (2012, April 12-14). Eiko Ishioka and the Orientalisation of Bram Stoker's Dracula [Conference paper presentation]. Gothic Transformations: The Bram Stoker Centenary Conference, University of Hull, Hull and Whitby, England.
Hardy Bernal, K. (2011, June 29-July 1). Confronting the hegemony: The Japanese Lolita subculture and the Lolita Complex [Conference paper presentation]. 2nd Annual International PopCAANZ (Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand) Conference, Langham Hotel, Auckland, New Zealand.
Hardy Bernal, K. A. (2009, July 21-24). From prey to predator: Re-imag[in]ing Lolita in Japanese shôjo gothic fiction [Conference paper presentation]. Monstrous Media/Spectral Subjects: 9th Biennial Conference of the IGA (International Gothic Association), Lancaster University, Lancaster, England.
Hardy Bernal, K. A., & Chuang, B. K. Y. (2008, December 4-6). A museological engagement with Asian and youth communities in Auckland: Loli-pop: A downtown Auckland view on Japanese street fashion [Conference paper presentation]. AAANZ (Alpha Alpha Alpha November Zulu: Art Association of Australia and New Zealand) Annual Conference, Brisbane, Australia.
Hardy Bernal, K. (2007, November 22-25). The Gothic Lolita: A living doll [Conference paper presentation]. 17th New Zealand Asian Studies Society International Conference, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Hardy Bernal, K. (2007, May 26-27). Kamikaze girls and Loli-goths [Conference paper presentation]. Fashion in Fiction: An International Transdisciplinary Conference, University of Technology, Sydney.
Keynotes, Invited Guest Lectures, Public Talks, and Recorded Interviews
Hardy Bernal, K. (2017, January 1). Latin Lolitas: Lynn Freeman met with academic and art and design historian Kathryn Hardy Bernal, who is currently researching Lolita’s influence in Latin America [Radio interview]. Radio New Zealand. http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/the-weekend/audio/201829170/latin-lolitas
Hardy Bernal, K. A. (2014, April 1-3). Gothic & Lolita: A Japanese subculture and worldwide phenomenon [Keynote presentation]. Convergencias Góticas: VI Coloquio Gótico Internacional (Gothic Convergences: VI International Gothic Congress), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City, Mexico.
Hardy Bernal, K. (2011, May 8). Revolution and revivalism: 1965 - 1975 [Invited public guest lecture]. In association with the exhibition, Local Revolutionaries: Art and Change, 1965 - 1986, Auckland City Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand.
Hardy Bernal, K. (2007, October 31). The Gothic Lolita: A living doll [Curator’s public lecture]. In association with the exhibition, Loli-Pop: A Downtown Auckland View on Japanese Street Fashion, Auckland War Memorial Museum, Auckland, New Zealand.
Hardy Bernal, K. (2007, October 23). Asian Report with Suzanne Schockmann: Curator Kathryn Hardy Bernal is interviewed by Suzanne Schockmann about her exhibition, Loli-Pop [Radio interview]. Radio New Zealand.
Hardy Bernal, K., & Chuang, B. (2007, October 21). Curators Kathryn Hardy Bernal and Bevan Chuang are interviewed by Melissa Lee about their exhibition, Loli-Pop, at Auckland Museum [Televised interview]. Asia Downunder. TVNZ1.
Hardy Bernal, K. (2007, September 2). The cult of death: Victorian medievalism and mourning [Invited public guest lecture]. In association with the exhibition, Passion and Politics: Two Centuries of British Art, Auckland City Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand.
Hardy Bernal, K. (2007, August 19). Aestheticism and artistic dress [Invited public guest lecture]. In association with the exhibition, Passion and Politics: Two Centuries of British Art, Auckland City Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand.
Hardy Bernal, K. (2007, May 6). The cult of death: Victorian medievalism and mourning [Invited public guest lecture]. In association with the exhibition, Passion and Politics: Two Centuries of British Art, Auckland City Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand.
Research Awards and Grants
Hardy Bernal, K. A. (2017 – 2014). Recipient of the Vice Chancellor’s Doctoral Scholarship Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
Hardy Bernal, K. A. (2012). Winner of the 2012 Emerging Researcher Award Auckland University of Technology, School of Art and Design, Auckland, New Zealand
Bernal, K. A. (2002). Winner of the Jamie Jenkins Award for Art Theory University of New South Wales, College of Fine Arts, Sydney, Australia
Contribution and Membership
Internal Roles and Responsibilities
Head of Research (Yoobee College of Creative Innovation)
Head of Postgraduate Studies (Yoobee College of Creative Innovation)
Chair of the Research Committee (Yoobee College of Creative Innovation)
Membership of the Ethics Committee (UP Education)
Contribution to the Research Environment
Convenor of Retro-futuristic Visions: Looking Back to Look Forward. The 2nd International Academic Conference of UP Education (Australia and New Zealand), Yoobee College of Creative Innovation, Wellington, Oct 25-27, 2023
Convenor of Media, Culture, and Society: The Inaugural International Academic Conference of UP Education (Australia and New Zealand), Yoobee College of Creative Innovation, Auckland, Dec 14-16, 2022
Area Chair of Costume, Cosplay, Subcultural Fashion for Media, Culture, and Society: The Inaugural International Academic Conference of UP Education (Australia and New Zealand), Yoobee College of Creative Innovation, Auckland, Dec 14-16, 2022
Area Chair of Historical Studies, Visual Arts Theory for Media, Culture, and Society: The Inaugural International Academic Conference of UP Education (Australia and New Zealand), Yoobee College of Creative Innovation, Auckland, Dec 14-16, 2022
Executive Committee – Secretary, PopCAANZ (Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand), 2015-2019
Executive Committee – Area Chair of Subcultures/Organiser of Call for Papers, PopCAANZ (Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand), 2016-2019
Managing Editorial Assistant/Editorial Assistant, JAPPC (Journal of Asia-Pacific Pop Culture), Pennsylvania State University Press, Pennsylvania, USA (Online), 2017-2019
Peer Reviewer, JAPPC (Journal of Asia-Pacific Pop Culture), Pennsylvania State University Press, Pennsylvania, USA (Online), 2015-2019
Panel Chair – Fashion and Textiles, 9th Annual International PopCAANZ (Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand) Conference, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand, 2018
Peer Reviewer/Copy Editor, Mountford, P. (Ed.). (2017). Published Proceedings of the 8th Annual Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand (PopCAANZ) Conference, Wellington, New Zealand, PopCAANZ, ISBN: 978-0-473-41892-2, 2017
Panel Chair – Fashion and Textiles, 8th Annual International PopCAANZ (Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand) Conference, Massey University, College of Creative Arts, Wellington, New Zealand, 2017
Panel Chair – Fashion and Textiles, 7th Annual International PopCAANZ (Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand) Conference, University of Sydney, Sydney College of the Arts, Sydney, Australia, 2016
Panel Chair – Fashion and Textiles, 6th Annual International PopCAANZ (Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand) Conference, Massey University, College of Creative Arts, Wellington, New Zealand, 2015
Peer Reviewer/Endorser, Kuldova, T. (2016). Luxury Indian Fashion: A Social Critique, Bloomsbury, ISBN: 978-1-474-22092-7, 2015-2016
Conference Ambassador, The End of Fashion International Academic Conference and Events, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand, 2016
Peer Reviewer/Copy Editor, Joseph, F., Smith, M., Smitheram, M., & Hamon, J. (Eds.). (2015). Shapeshifting: A Conference on Transformative Paradigms of Fashion and Textile Design, Auckland University of Technology, ISBN: 978-1-927184-27-1, 2014-2015
Exhibitions Advisory Board Member, St Paul St Galleries, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand, 2011-2014
Peer Reviewer, SMT (Studies in Material Thinking), Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand, 2011-2013
Graduate Exhibitions Curator (Costume, Fashion, Textiles), Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand, 2009-2013
Founding Vice-President, GANZA (Gothic Association of New Zealand and Australia), 2012-2013
Conference Co-convenor and Co-organiser, Gothic Antipodes: The Inaugural Conference of the Gothic Association of New Zealand and Australia, The Stamford Plaza Hotel, Auckland, New Zealand, 2012-2013
Exhibitions Curator (Costume, Fashion, Textiles)/Events Co-organiser, AD10 Art + Design Festival, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand, 2009-2010
Panel Chair – Gothic Fashion, Monstrous Media/Spectral Subjects: 9th Biennial Conference of the IGA (International Gothic Association), Lancaster University, Lancaster, England, 2009
Invited Guest Head Exhibition Curator, Loli-Pop: A Downtown Auckland View on Japanese Street Fashion, Auckland War Memorial Museum, Auckland, New Zealand, 2006-2007
Guest Exhibition Co-curator and Co-organiser, Legendary Journeys: Craig Judd, Tim Schultz, Wendy Sharpe, Margaret Snowdon, The Greek Festival of Sydney, Kudos Gallery, Sydney, Australia, 1999
Membership and Affiliations
CTANZ (Costume and Textile Association of New Zealand)
EPCA (European Popular Culture Association)
GANZA (Gothic Association of New Zealand and Australia)
IGA (International Gothic Association)
PopCAANZ (Popular Culture Association of New Zealand and Australia)
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