
Doble. Cristina Córdova, artist
Mica Gallery’s exhibition, Resilience: Artists Respond to Hurricane Helene, opened in January and runs through Friday, February 28. The storm drew artists like Kate Vogel to lead the effort of volunteers at Bowman Middle School, one of Mitchell County’s main distribution centers. Her glass sculptures, made in collaboration with John Littleton, are included in the exhibition and represent the importance of hands in extending support.
“Running a hurricane relief supply distribution center,” says Vogel, “I have heard so many stories and the longing of the people to return to a time when their lives had not been torn apart.”
“Coming from the Caribbean, I never expected a storm like this in the mountains of Western North Carolina, far from the sea,” says Cristina Córdova, also included in the show. “But storms remake the world no matter where they fall. After a cyclonic upheaval, the landscape shifts into something strange—a fractured world with alien contours.” Her ceramic works in the exhibition, Dame Flores and Cabeza, respond to the way nature, evidenced by bird songs and new growth, eventually reclaims the landscape. She speaks of “small, persistent acts of life that anchor us and provide a guiding eye and spirit toward renewal in the face of disaster.”
Photographer James Henkel includes three works—Wind, Water and Blocked—which starkly and mysteriously capture the human experience of the environment post-storm. “Wind and water are literally the definition of Feng Shui,” he says, “and a barrier is an obstruction to be avoided, as it stops the flow of the energy of the world. My photographs are direct responses to the life-changing forces of Helene, which has so thoroughly disrupted our community’s landscape in profound ways.”
Gertrude “Gay” Graham Smith continues to recover her studio after the flood. Poignantly, her two porcelain candelabrum tell the story of damage and loss. “As my dog and I raced to shelter in a storage shed, water and mud surged through my kiln room,” she says. “My candelabras were stored there, temporarily, on the floor in cardboard boxes. After a couple of stunned days, I remembered to look for them. Initially invisible, I extracted each one slowly from the morass of mud and cardboard—joyfully intact. It could be called miraculous, their survival; it’s certainly a testament to the strength of porcelain. A metaphor?” she asks, then adds, “I am passionate about making objects to bring more light into our world.”
In addition to the Resilience exhibition, Mica will host a fundraiser for Mitchell County Animal Rescue (MCAR) during the month of February. For the Love of Animals is an exhibition and sale of works contributed by artists to benefit MCAR’s work. The opening event is Friday, February 7, from 5–7 p.m. Contributions of $10 per person are requested at the door. The benefit show and sale runs through March 1.
Mica is an artist-run gallery of fine art and contemporary craft located at 37 North Mitchell Avenue in Bakersville. The gallery is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through March, and by appointment, calling or texting Speckled Dog Pottery at 828.434.0353. In April, the gallery resumes a daily schedule. Visit the website MicaGalleryNC.com, and follow on Facebook at Mica Gallery NC or on Instagram at micagallerync.