Description

Alphabet Soup is an assortment of works from studio mates and interdisciplinary artists Carrie Garrison and Emma Vieser. Much like alphabet soup from a can where letters don’t spell out legible words, seeing Garrison and Vieser’s work together doesn’t always make perfect sense. Garrison’s ceramics and paintings are defined by bright colors and graphic patterns whereas Vieser’s paintings are lush and veer more towards abstraction than representation. Sometimes it can be surprising that all these works came out of the same can, er, studio.

Emma Vieser is a queer multimedia artist in Knoxville, TN. They attended the University

of Tennessee-Knoxville, where they earned a BFA in 2D Studio Art and a BA in Art

History. Since graduating in 2020, they have had their work shown in the Southeast

Museum of Photography, started a small business to market and sell their work, and

been published in local art quarterlies as well as larger online zines. Though most of

their work from school is photography, their newer explorations are in painting and

ceramics.

Carrie Garrison is a Knoxville-based multimedia artist/designer. After graduating from the University of Tennessee with a BFA in Graphic Design in 2020, Carrie pulled her focus back on to her fine art, specifically functional hand-built ceramics and the occasional painting. She is also currently teaching middle school art in Knox County. 

Carrie Garrison:

https://linktr.ee/foolishdesigns 

https://www.instagram.com/foolish.designs/

Em Vieser

https://www.instagram.com/perenniall.y/

https://perennially.carrd.co/

Description

The Knoxville Community Darkroom is a non-profit arts center whose mission is to educate our local community about photography and film processes as a means of artistic self-expression. We offer a variety of classes and workshops led by our teaching artists who are featured in this show.

The imagery you see here is a culmination of modern, traditional, and 19th century photographic techniques. From digital archival prints, to silver gelatin prints, to cyanotype, and van dyke images, this imagery represents experimentation with different mediums as well as the diversity of photography.

insta: https://www.instagram.com/knoxdarkroom/

Description

Description

Afterimage is a new series of work that begins with found photographs of gardens

and floral arrangements from the 1930s – selected for their lush patterns,

compositions, and high contrast. Through layering of photocopies and single-color

transparencies, photographed and digitally edited, the original images are

transformed into abstract, haunted botanical scenes. Moments that were

composed and captured by an unknown photographer now seem to miraculously

exist by way of the object passing hands for nearly a century. 

This legacy is further transformed through layering, tracing, and shifting of the

image. The original allure of these transitional moments is highlighted through

carefully applied surface embellishments – further expressions of the artist’s

hand. Seductive and unsettling, these shimmering forms both hide behind the

primary images, as well as assert their presence. Acknowledging death, as

exemplified by preserved fleeting moments, these works are at once a lament as

well as a celebration. 

The original photograph acts to memorialize an ephemeral moment, and through

my alterations, I form a collaboration with the anonymous photographer, the

natural space, and the history of photography. From object to collaged

photocopies, to digital editing and reproduction, back to an embellished object –

the vernacular image becomes fine art. A transformation carried into surreal,

illuminated spaces.

website:

https://kellyhider.com/

Description

Rose Downs presents her Ceramic and Fabric work, featuring stunning pieces of Crystalline glazed Ceramics and amazing weaving.

https://rosedowns.com/

https://www.instagram.com/thepotterrosedowns/

Description

It has become apparent that we are living in different realities

simultaneously. We interact with one another and the world around us.

We share a common language imbued in all of our faces and bodies.

We share experiences, we know the same things. We share words and

stories. We all have a process. We all have grown. Comprehension,

interpretation, intention, and sensibilities all depend on the individual. Each

of us has our own story to tell.

I use creatures as a medium to understand the world through their

perspective. They are vessels of stored energy, an utterance of an idea,

and characters in a mythology of their own.

Collaborating with others has allowed me to bring my characters to life

outside of the walls of this space. In this process I have upheld some

simple pleasures in the concept of contact. Each mark I make on the clay is

a transference of data from me, to the creature, to you. Each conversation

I’ve had with others is now translated here to you.

Thinking of play, toys, home, growth, connection, and collective, how do

these objects interact with one another and how do we interact with them?

As a viewer I invite you to explore each of these individuals’ lives. Ask them

questions. They may not be so different from you or I.

website:

Description

The literal translation of Kimono is “Thing to wear on the shoulders”.  I won’t talk further about the history or 

symbolism of the garment, I will simply say that we carry a lot of things on our shoulders, in our hearts and on our 

sleeves.  These kimonos represent what I carry, and the theme of each is a reflection of experiences that I find 

important in this life. 

We spent 2020 taking care of our mom, who passed away as a result of cancer in December.

I spent a lot of time listening to Peggy share stories of her life experiences, and trying to reconcile the most 

important factors in this life.

Ultimately I reaffirmed that, for me, the most important things in life are people (not things!) and experiences. 

Life is short – Focus on what you Love

I love to be outside, I love to travel, and I love to experience the sights and sounds of different environments.

Each of these kimonos represent my experience in these environments.

Description

Description

I think of my sculptures as the key to the secret garden of my visions and thoughts,

my looking glass! None of this was intentional, It just developed and evolved over

time. All these emotions inside me and images stored in my brain suddenly become

a face, a body, a sculpture.

I continue to learn about myself and my material as the relationship progresses.

Every piece I create is an experiment. I am never sure of what I am going to do, or

how it may change me or my work. I never know, when I begin, what my finished

piece will Iook like,

I am captivated by the human form, by the way in which gestures and expressions

can speak to us. While my sculpted figures are all different, they all have a story to

tell.

What inspires me? Every day life, and the uniqueness of the world we live in. The

past and the future. How human beings move through many stages in their lives.

Working with clay allows a direct, spontaneous and playful approach, enabling me

to capture the spirit of the figure.

https://www.morenasart.com/

Description

This body of work began as a way to pass time at work and keep up with my printmaking practice after grad school. The size of each piece was dictated by using students’ discarded cutoffs from the wood shop at the New York Academy of Art. The smaller, oddly shaped blocks eventually led to the exploration of trying to carve full sheets of wood. Most of the blocks were carved between 2016-2020 but were never printed. This exhibition is just a small sampling of those blocks that have finally been finished.

Bio:

Jake Ingram is a collaborative printer and artist working in Knoxville, TN. He received his BFA in drawing in 2012 from East Tennessee State University and his MFA in drawing with a concentration in printmaking in 2015 from the New York Academy of Art. He attended Tamarind Institute in 2017 and was awarded his Printer Training Certificate in 2018. He was one of two people selected to stay a second year as an apprentice and in 2019 he earned the designation Tamarind Master Printer. His interest lies in the synthesis of fine art and craft, therefore his personal work often involves printmaking and sewing. In addition to lithography, Ingram is trained in woodcut and intaglio. His work has been exhibited around the US and internationally. When not hanging out in the print shop you can find him hunting Jackalopes and Bigfoot.

website:

 https://www.jackalopeeditions.com/artist