Second Look: Recycled For The Sake Of Art

THEATRE ART GALLERIES

MAIN GALLERY

JANUARY 19^TH– APRIL 1^ST

Opening Reception January 19th from 5:30-7:30PM

220 E. Commerce Ave., High Point, NC

SECOND LOOK:  Recycled for the Sake of Art

Featuring the work of Kirkland Smith, Miles Purvis, Bryant Holsenbeck and Catherine Edgerton

Sponsored by Whitney and Bill Heard

The Main Gallery will host a “SECOND LOOK: Recycled for the Sake of Art”. This is a group show featuring the work of Kirkland Smith, Miles Purvis, Bryant Holsenbeck, and Catherine Edgerton. Kirkland Smith of Columbia, SC, creates contemporary “Assemblages” from post-consumer materials. By using discarded objects as her “paint”, she found an evocative way to deliver the message of the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling. She found the medium connected with viewers of all ages and through it a conversation began. She hopes viewers will find the work entertaining, but also to see in it the impact consumerism is creating on our environment. “Each Assemblage is a little piece of our history. It is the story of us today. What we throw away says a lot about who we are, but what we choose to cherish and protect says even more in the end.”

Environmental artist Bryant Holsenbeck, of Durham, NC, documents the “stuff of our society that we use once and throw away. She says, “Americans continue to create more garbage, per capita, than any other culture, yet we are blind to our waste. I believe this is a function of our wealth, and the vastness of our country. We have the room to hide our waste, and the money to make more. I collect many things, among them, bottle caps, credit cards, plastic bags, straws and lids, beach plastic and chop sticks. I use these everyday items to make work, which transforms the objects and surprises us. I am an environmentalist, receiving great joy from the natural world. This makes me aware of how we take what we have for granted. We are used to using “stuff” once and then throwing it away. We may throw it away, but my work makes me aware of its continual impact.”

Miles Purvis, also of Columbia, SC, is a painter who says she started creating art at a young age. “To me, art is supposed to simply make you feel good. It doesn’t matter how detailed, colorful, or what size it is. As long as your eyes like it and your space will agree, that is all that matters. My work is a reflection of what is currently inspiring me in life and that is always ever changing. I strive for my work to always convey a sense of movement. Living in a fast-paced world, being able to find stillness in motion is rare, but when you can capture it, it is a beautiful thing.”

Catherine Edgerton works with stained-glass, creating and gifting multi-media kaleidoscopes to people who struggle with mental health and addiction. She says, “This project allowed me to explore the gesture of letting go–and letting light in–literally as well as figuratively. I am currently exploring glass work through the construction of a series of multi-media stained-glass TV sets, which illuminate themes of consumption in the US.”