Artist, Keith Phillips
Beginning with a reception from 5–7 p.m. on Friday, April 1, and running throughout the month, an exhibit of works by local artists Dona Barnett and Keith Phillips will be featured at F.W. Front Gallery at Woolworth Walk.
Dona worked for several years as a self-taught artist, but then decided to enter UNCA, where she graduated summa cum laude with a BFA in 2012. After college, she began to focus on printmaking, using nontoxic techniques she’d researched as an alternative to the traditional methods she’d learned in school.
Her latest work, she says, is “a reflection of a search for a new reality in the face of loss.” Much of what she creates is done using found materials, thus redeeming what might otherwise be discarded. She adds that the imagery reflected in her work is often a result of her faith as she strives to understand hope in the face of human suffering.
Keith earned his BFA from East Carolina University with a studio focus in printmaking. After college, he picked a random spot on the map, packed up and headed to Montana where he worked as a designer for various online companies in the 1990s. When left unemployed after an economic crash, he got a job as an assistant to ceramic artist Walker Davis. He eventually purchased her old kiln for $200 and began making his own wares.
He juggled pottery, freelance graphic design, and creating textile arts to pay the bills. Now with a focus on pottery, he says he enjoys making functional wares to give his work a purpose. Although most of his pieces are wheel-thrown, they still involve hand building before being finished with layers of embellishment that give them depth and pictorial qualities.
F.W. Front Gallery at Woolworth Walk, located at 25 Haywood Street in downtown Asheville, is open seven days a week (11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday). For more information, call 828.254.9234 or visit woolworthwalk.com.
