| 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..." |
February Issue 2005
Wilkes Art Gallery in North Wilkesboro, NC, Features Show of Photography and Sculpture
The Wilkes Art Gallery in North Wilkesboro, NC, is presenting the exhibition, Nature's Way: an Exhibition of Photography and Sculpture, featuring work by four NC photographers and two sculptors, on view through Mar. 25, 2005. The exhibition includes works by photographers; Frederica Georgia, David Cortner, Bill Ratcliffe and Kirk Gulden; and sculptors, Wayne Trapp and Jeffrey Elmore.
This exhibit includes a diverse showing of fine photography and sculpture. Photographer Frederica Georgia of Vilas, NC, is a fine art photographer, photojournalist, and portrait artist. Her sense of adventure has always been a motivating factor in her photography. After receiving a degree in photojournalism from Syracuse University in 1980, Georgia began her career as a staff photographer for Southern Living Magazine. Based in Austin, TX, she covered a broad range of travel subjects including armadillo races, chili cook-offs, and oyster eating contests. Now, from her home inn the mountains of NC, Georgia's horizons and subjects are even greater.
Photographer David Cortner resides in Connelly Springs, NC. Of his career as a photographer, Cortner writes, "While waiting for the convergence of computers and cameras, I have worked as a computer programmer, a systems analyst, a philosophy instructor, a writer, a star-guide, as many kinds of photographer and as a photo-editor. Now that cameras and computers play so well together, I'm looking forward to doing a lot more photography." Cortner's photography captures a specific fleeting moment in time. To exemplify, his triptych piece, Annular Eclipse of the Sun: Friendship, NC, highlights three moments in a solar eclipse. His images are powerful and dramatic.
Photographer Kirk Gulden is a member of our community and is very active in the Wilkes Art Gallery. Though he has lived in Wilkes County for the last 20 years, he is a native of New Jersey. His creative architectural, flower and landscape images include those of local interest, Charleston, SC, other areas of the United States and several European countries. He is particularly interested in the sculptural elements of natural and man-made structures. Of his work, Gulden writes, "Travel to new places encourages an open visual perspective. Mountains, fields, trees and the sky are all viewed with a sense of discovery. And just as the vistas and landscapes of new places offer an opportunity for photographic exploration, ones own back yard can also provide fresh discoveries. The intimate and delicate architecture of flowers and their foliage present the beauty of nature that is often overlooked by the casual observer."
Sculptor Wayne Trapp resides in Vilas, NC. His sculpture is represented across the state and country in private and corporate collections. His work is also well represented in public venues across the nation. Of his work, Trapp writes, "For me art is a combination of many things. People often ask me, 'what were you thinking when you made this painting, what does this sculpture depict?' That's the beginning of curiosity and appreciation. Abstract art is a challenge to the senses. Often I'll offer some sort of concrete description for the person who asks, but I'd much rather suggest that it's totally an interpretation of whatever they simply feel, see and dream from my work."
Photographer Bill Ratcliffe resides in Radford, VA. He has been creating photography since 1994. Ratcliffe creates much of his imagery in the darkroom without the use of a camera. Of his work, Ratcliffe writes, "Birds are attracted to shinny things and I am attracted to translucent things. Seeing light pass through an object fascinates me. My interest in photography introduced me to the enlarger and my "focus" shifted from the camera to the darkroom. Using different mediums in attempts to alter images on film, I found that the images was often overshadowed by the variety and depth that could be produced by household and industrial materials."
Jeffrey Elmore is a local sculptor who resides in North Wilkesboro and is employed as an art teacher with Wilkes County Schools. He has previously exhibited his work at the Looking Glass Gallery at Appalachian State University, at the Caldwell Arts Council and at the Wilkes Art Gallery. Elmore's large sculptures incorporate natural materials and found objects like stone, steel, rod and other media. His works are very thematic and have previously displayed subject matter like the individual spiritual journey, finding and creating peace and tension.
For further information check our NC Institutional Gallery listings, call the gallery at 336/667-2841 or at (www.wilkesartgallery.org).
Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc. Copyright© 2004 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© 2004 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.