| For more information about this article or gallery, please call the gallery phone number listed in the last line of the article, "For more info..." |
October Issue 2006
Appalachian State University in Boone, NC, and the Center for Craft, Creativity and Design in Hendersonville, NC, Freature Joint Group Exhibitions
Two new exhibitions are being presented at
Catherine J. Smith Gallery at Appalachian State University in
Boone, NC, including Architectural Echoes in Clay, on view
through Nov. 10, 2006 and Crossing Boundaries, Maintaining
Traditions: Teaching Artists of the Southeast, on view through
Oct. 24, 2006. Both exhibitions have been organized by the Center
for Craft, Creativity and Design (CCCD) in Hendersonville, NC.
Architectural Echoes in Clay, will also be on view at the
Center for Craft, Creativity and Design, through Nov. 10, 2006.
Catherine J. Smith Gallery Director Jody Servon states, "The
exhibitions and projects taking place this fall at Appalachian
State University highlight the creative endeavors of artists engaged
in exploring and manipulating fiber and clay materials both technically
and conceptually. I am pleased we were able to partner with CCCD
to present these fine exhibitions to our community."
In the exhibit, Architectural Echoes in Clay, fourteen
internationally recognized clay artists from the US, Canada, and
Denmark are exhibiting conceptual drawings and wood fired clay
works in an exhibition curated by Judith Duff. Artists included
in the exhibit are: Mary Bowron, Boyds, MD, Frank Boyden, Otis,
OR; Joy Brown, South Kent, CT; Judith Duff, Brevard, NC; Bill
Griffith, Gatlinburg, TN; Nina Hole, Skaelskor, Denmark; Lynne
Johnson, Courtney, British Columbia; Randy Johnston, River Falls,
WI; Jan McKeechie-Johnston, River Falls, WI; Tim Rowan, Stone
Ridge, NY; Steve Sauer, Port Orchard, WA; Jeff Shapiro, Accord,
NY; Al Tennent, Coupeville, WA; Malcolm Wright, Marlboro, VT.
This exhibition focuses on architectural structures
created from clay and finished in fire and wood ash. Work in the
exhibition illustrates the historical process of firing clay that
dates back to the 10th century, in Japanese-influenced anagama,
ogama, and noborigama wood-fired kilns. The labor-intensive wood-firing
process requires constant attention for days and represents a
shared artistic aesthetic relating to process and materials. The
catalog for the exhibition features color images of works by the
artists, as well as essays by Susan Lefler and artist and exhibition
curator Judith Duff, on the process and characteristics that are
highly prized in wood-fired pottery.
The exhibition is in conjunction with the residency of Danish
artist Nina Hole, who created a Fire Sculpture at Appalachian
State University in Boone, NC, in Sept., 2006. Hole, worked with
faculty, staff and students from regional universities and schools
to create a public sculpture. Hole created an architecturally
inspired sculpture that was built over a firebox and fired on
site. For more information about the residency project, please
visit (www.craftcreativitydesign.org).
Crossing Boundaries, Maintaining Traditions: Teaching Artists of the Southeast, an exhibition of work by textile artists teaching in the Southeast, includes works by twenty-two artists from Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, Florida and Washington, DC. The traditional and contemporary works in this exhibition showcase the diverse approaches to fiber by artists who are also guiding the next generation in this field. Catharine Ellis, fiber faculty at Haywood Community College Professional Crafts program, curated the exhibit.
Artists in included are: Mary Babcock, formerly at Appalachian State University, NC; Jeanne Whitfield Brady, Appalachian Center for Craft, TN; Susan Brandeis, North Carolina State University, School of Design, NC; Pip Brant, Florida International University, FL; Cayewah Easley, Savannah College of Art and Design, GA; Candace Edgerley, Corcoran College of Art and Design, Washington, DC; Catharine Ellis, Haywood Community College Professional Crafts Program, NC; John David Hawthorne, retired from Virginia Commonwealth University, VA; Susan Iverson, Virginia Commonwealth University, VA; Jeana Klein, Appalachian State University, NC; Bethanne Knudson, Hendersonville Jacquard Center, NC; Carol LeBaron, Emory & Henry College, VA; Pat Mink, East Tennessee State University, TN; Vita Plume, North Carolina State University, School of Design, NC; Junco Sato Pollack, Georgia State University, GA; Jennifer Sargent, Memphis College of Art, TN; Georgia Springer, Meredith College, NC; Janet Taylor, retired from Appalachian State University, NC; Christi Teasley, St. Andrews-Sewanee School, TN; Jan-Ru Wan, East Carolina University, NC; LM Wood, Elon University, NC; and Christine Zoller, East Carolina University, NC.
The work in Crossing Boundaries, Maintaining Traditions is rooted in the ancient ways of constructing and embellishing cloth: weaving, sewing, felting, embroidery and printing. Many of the pieces also serve as narrative vehicles as in Pre-Columbian textiles, Coptic weavings and medieval tapestries. In this exhibition, traditional plain weave has been influenced by the use of computer controlled looms and 21st century materials such as stainless steel filaments. Also showcased is a range of digital processes that enables the transfer and manipulation of images made or appropriated by the artist. Included is a range of natural and manmade fabrics, dyed, printed, pleated, beaded, layered, embroidered, collaged and in many different ways assembled unlike any quilt made by women in days past.
As Susan Brandeis writes in the exhibition catalog, "While [those in the exhibition] maintain and pass on the traditional techniques, they also cross boundaries of concept, material and technique-the inspiration for the title of this exhibition." Brandeis continues, "In both the classroom and the studio, these teaching artists synthesize ideas from diverse influences and push the boundaries of traditional materials and techniques as they explore widely diverse concepts ranging from the intimate to the cosmic." References include the natural world, traditions such as wedding dresses, dreams, old letters, memories, the counterpoint of order and disorder, other cultures, daily life and social issues. Humor, celebration, wonder, mystery, nostalgia, questioning, peacefulness, quirkiness and complexity are some of the attributes found in the work.
Support for these projects has been provided by American-Scandinavian Foundation; Appalachian State University; Center for Craft, Creativity and Design; Highwater Clays and the North Carolina Arts Council.
For more information check our NC Institutional
Gallery listings, call the Smith Gallery at 828/262-7338 or at
(www.art.appstate.edu/cjs) or the CCCD at 828/890-2050 or at (www.craftcreativitydesign.org).
Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing
Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc.
Copyright© 2006 by PSMG, Inc., which published Charleston
Arts from July 1987 - Dec. 1994 and South Carolina Arts
from Jan. 1995 - Dec. 1996. It also publishes Carolina Arts
Online, Copyright© 2006 by PSMG, Inc. All rights reserved
by PSMG, Inc. or by the authors of articles. Reproduction or use
without written permission is strictly prohibited. Carolina
Arts is available throughout North & South Carolina.