Arts Craft Arts

Hand Over Matter Open for Viewing at Folk Art Center

Silence. Robert Milnes, artist

The Southern Highland Craft Guild has opened Hand Over Matter, a new exhibition in the Focus Gallery of the Folk Art Center featuring traditional and contemporary craft by five Guild member artists. The exhibit will run through August 19 and includes glass works by Billy Bernstein, clay sculptures by Robert Milnes, textiles by Pam Granger Gale, polymer clay jewelry by Tamela Wells and wood-carved sculptures by Christine Smith.

The polymer clay jewelry by Wells is made to resemble natural stones and appears heavy, though it is in reality very lightweight and comfortable for the wearer. “I have had to teach my hands to make rocks, informing my hands to imitate nature,” she says. “When I first tried to make rock-shaped beads with polymer, I quickly realized that in nature, water makes rocks, so I had to learn to imitate water with the movement of my hands in making the stone shapes.”

Christine Smith, artist

Milnes says the exhibition’s titular theme examines the artist’s relationship with the medium. “The materials teach you patience and ways to work with them with two of your primary tools to express thoughts or to manipulate your environment—your hands,” he says. “This is a show which features artists who have chosen to work directly with specific materials with their hands. The shaping tools they use are generally extensions of their hands, though external devices come into play between shaping and the finished piece. They all choose bright colors, fluid shapes and telling stories about their lives, work, and interests.”

SHCG is a nonprofit, educational organization established in 1930 to cultivate the crafts and makers of the Southern Highlands for the purpose of shared resources, education, marketing and conservation. The Folk Art Center is located at Milepost 382 of the Blue Ridge Parkway, just north of the Highway 70 entrance in east Asheville. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Learn more at SouthernHighlandGuild.org.

 

1 Comment

Leave a Comment