Galleries Visual Arts

TRAC’s Burnsville Gallery: Conversions

Digital Drawing for clay sculpture

The Toe River Arts Council’s Burnsville Gallery presents Conversions, a show of works by artist Mary Ruth Webb, running through Saturday, December 30. Webb is a sculptor, book maker and digital artist. A reception to meet the artist will be held at the gallery on Friday, December 15, from 5–7 p.m.

The show’s title, Webb says, “expresses both the subject matter and the working modes involved in creating my sculptures—from drawings, both traditional and digital, to figurative ceramic pieces, and vice versa.”

Webb’s background and training are in the graphic design fi eld. Twenty years ago, she closed her business, moved to Western North Carolina and began making three-dimensional paper sculptures. From there she moved to clay and the making of figurative sculpture.

Her work, she says, is “evolutionary,” representing her transition to freedom as a woman after a childhood of fear- and shame-based religious fundamentalism. “It is my hope that viewers will see how religion has made women scapegoats for the fears and insecurities of men. I hope the exhibition will speak to the viewer about other avenues to inner peace than what they have been forced into by their society and their family of origin.”

The exhibit contains large clay sculptures coupled with balancing smaller works. “I use glazes sparingly,” Webb says, “usually using under glazes for color and finishing my pieces with acrylic paint and other materials and occasionally using handmade paper additions. My ceramic work is slowly evolving into expressing more of my own life’s experiences and challenges.”

The Toe River Arts Council Burnsville Gallery is located at 102 West Main Street in Burnsville. Hours are 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday. To learn more, visit toeriverarts.org or call 828.682.7215.

Leave a Comment