The Ring
By Emma Castleberry
From Saturday, May 5, through June 3, the Grovewood Gallery presents an exhibition of contemporary ceramic works by artist Taylor Robenalt. Interactions will feature a selection of figurative sculptures and teapots by Robenalt, who discovered her love for sculpture while studying for her MFA at the University of Georgia. After receiving her degree, she traveled to Japan for a residency at the International Workshop of Ceramic Art in Tokoname. “It was in Tokoname that I made the decision that I would pursue clay for the rest of my life,” she says. “The town where I was living and studying had huge, ten-chimney community kilns that would take 30 potters to fill and two weeks to fire. I was blown away with all the possibilities for ceramics.”
Since returning from Japan, Robenalt has completed artist residency programs at Odyssey Clayworks in Asheville and Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts in Maine. She is also a co-founder of Ceramic Sculpture Culture, an artists’ collective which works to promote the art of emerging sculptors creating narrative and figurative works in clay.
Robenalt’s intricate, ceramic teapots are a relatively new pursuit. “They arose from a challenge to make something fun,” she says. “I have found in art that when you let yourself just create, something beautiful arises.”
The artist uses colors and animal motifs as symbolism in her teapots. She hopes the narratives presented in her work will expose life’s dark and light sides. “Humans have such a variety of backgrounds with stories and baggage that I know I will never nail it perfectly,” she says. “But as long as a viewer connects, I am okay with what they see in my work.”
Grovewood Gallery is located at 111 Grovewood Road, adjacent to the Omni Grove Park Inn in Asheville. Gallery hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free parking is available onsite. To learn more, visit grovewood.com or call 828.253.7651.
