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March Issue 2006
Touchstone Gallery in Hendersonville, NC, Marks Third Anniversary of Iraqi Freedom Exhibition with New Works
Touchstone Gallery in Hendersonville, NC, is honored to be the debut venue for newly created art commenting on the US involvement in Iraq. At least four sculptures from The Memorial Project by Henry Mitchell of Greenville, SC, will be featured in the gallery's Main Street display window from Mar. 15 through June 9, 2006, which include the war's anniversary date and the traditional Memorial Day weekend.
Mitchell commenced this long-tern series last Fall. His goal is to create a "Memorial Tree" for each 100 American soldiers lost in Iraq. Each Memorial will include the names and dates of the troops being commemorated. The artist has put aside the traditional sculpting chisels and gouges he normally uses and has turned to powered tools...commenting that "The violence of the technique (is a) metaphor for the violence of the times."
"I didn't want to make a politicized statement," said Mitchell. "What I was striving for was not merely a declaration of protest, but a testament of mourning. What has evolved to this point is a series of carved wood sculptures, each a memorial for a hundred lives lost. The forms so far have fallen into two basic groups: upreaching forms, resembling human figures, or trees, or crosses, representing hope and prayer; and sheltering forms, with openings and cave-like inner cavities, representing sheltering grace."
During the same period, the first painting in a new series by Asheville, NC-based Skip Rohde will be installed in the Courtyard display window of the gallery. Currently, this five-foot by five-foot oil on canvas remains untitled. Rohde will only comment that it focuses on the impact of war on the mother/son relationship and his goal is to convey the emotions of mercy, pity, and compassion.
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