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November Issue
2008
Plum Elements in Charleston, SC, Features
Works by Carol Owen
Plum Elements in Charleston, SC, is presenting the exhibit, Spirit Houses, featuring works by nationally acclaimed artist and author Carol Owen, on view through Nov. 22, 2008.
Charleston, known for historic homes, hosts many house tours. Plum Elements will offer a first of its kind house tour for Charleston, with the exhibition Spirit Houses.
Owen's 30-year artistic career of papermaking and weaving, now includes mixed media. Though her materials have changed, "home has always been a motif of interest," Owen said. Learning of spirit houses from a friend returned from Thailand, Owen decided to develop her own version of this traditional form.
In many parts of Asia, homes and businesses include an altar or spirit house to honor and remember ancestors. They vary in size and style - some very ornate while others are quite simple. Regardless of type all connect to and celebrate the past (another Charleston passion). These reminders to residents of the present celebrate the past, both the who and the what. This motivates Owen in all her creations - the means to honor important persons or events. A long-standing interest in houses mixed with her desire to "create home wherever I am" made this form a natural artistic residence for Owen.
For her early shrines, Owen focused on personal and familial items. As she created more houses, she began incorporating other found items - but always those things that suggested universal themes. As her shrines were seen throughout the country, others wanted to celebrate and commemorate their own histories. Initially Owen teamed with individuals, creating spirit houses for them. Through the great expressed interest though, Owen realized the benefit and power available to others by creating their own spirit houses. So, she wrote her book, Crafting Personal Shrines.
Starting with a simple foundation, usually foam core, Owen transforms the house into an object of meaning with rice paper, paints and gathered items that connect to a person or moment in the past. The depth and strength with which people connect to spirit houses speaks powerfully to the universality of family and the vitality of shared meaning inherent in remembering.
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Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc. Copyright© 2008 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© 2008 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.