Amanda Massey
Amanda is an artist working in paint, collage and mixed media.
Her work is abstract, drawing on themes of existence; humanity and divinity in communion.
Amanda’s work as an energy healing practitioner has helped her develop and progress deeper into her chosen subjects, lending substance and steadiness to her voice as an artist, and a bold direction in her work.
Amanda currently works from her home studio in Knoxville, TN.
“Afterimage” by Kelly M Hider
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:
“Facets with Rose Downs” by Rose Downs
Rose Downs presents her Ceramic and Fabric work, featuring stunning pieces of Crystalline glazed Ceramics and amazing weaving.
“Contact” by Vanessa Hartman, AIR
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:
“The Kimono Show” by Christal Yost
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.
“Stuff I’ve Made” by Maggie Connolly
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.
“Cutoffs: Semi-Recent Woodcuts” by Jake Ingram
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:/
“One For the Road” by Bryan Wilkerson
My studio practice is a constellation of activities; one work informing the next in cycles of radiating, perpetual motion. Ceramics and designing projects for the public sphere drive me, creating new in-roads to utilizing drawing, painting, video, emergent technologies, and radical visual communications strategies. My creativity is tied to mobility creating a work in constant progress.
Playing with humor and irony while exploring traditional pottery (as my foil, or audience plant), I’m designing a new universe, building a cast of whimsical characters that retain their functionality as usable vessels. As J.F. Sebastian offers in Blade Runner, “These are my friends. I make them”. Each object is uniquely sculpted and meticulously hand-painted after beginning its formation on a potter’s wheel. Collectible, kitschy, nostalgic, and completely foreign. My work often feels like a memory of an imaginary land you’ve never visited. A place where Frankenberry visits a world of yetis to the lingering sound of a nearby ice cream truck, it’s engine sputtering in the hot Tennessee sun. The rev of an engine, spinning pottery wheels, decals, spray paint, and sweat.
“The Universe of Clay: Understanding Clay Through Science & Art” by Rhianna Moore, Shelagh Leutwiler, Ania Szynkiewicz
Clay & People
People have used clay deposits for making pottery since the Stone Age (~16,500 years ago).
In East Tennessee, the Cherokee are People of the Clay who have used hand building techniques to make pots, vessels and pipes for hundreds of years.
Pottery making traditions continue at Mighty Mud by a diverse group of artists who have found their home in the Knoxville area.
Clay Formation
Clay minerals are a family of fine-grained hydrated silicates comprised of silica, aluminum, magnesium, oxygen, and hydrogen. They are formed as a result of interactions between water and igneous rocks at or near Earth’s surface. Collectively these interactions are known as “weathering”.
Two modes of clay deposit formation can be distinguished in nature. Primary clays are formed in situ on hill slopes where water percolates through soil and reaches shallow bedrock. Secondary clays undergo long-distance transport in rivers and streams, and are eventually deposited in lakes and seas, making thick, layered deposits. Pottery is created with secondary clay deposits but in some instances primary clays are used to make clay paints.
Clay mineral type is strongly linked to climate at the time of formation. For example, smectite clay commonly forms in arid, cold climates and kaolinite in warm, humid climates, like here in the southeastern USA.
Clay on Mars
Clay minerals have fascinated planetary geologists who study the surface of Mars using rovers and orbiters. Clay minerals are the main indicators of past climate and hydrothermal activity on Mars.
So far, primary clays are the majority of clays detected on Mars, usually on steep hill slopes and crater walls. Small quantities of secondary clays are present in lake-type deposits inside of craters. The lack of secondary clays is likely due to the cold climate and minimal interaction with water in the past.
Consequently, it would be difficult to make pottery on Mars as we do in Mighty Mud because Mars lacks thick deposits of secondary clays. It is possible that small pieces of pottery could be made with primary clays after separating them from accompanying sand and rock fragments.
Nearest Future
The new rover Perseverance is on its way to Mars now. It will land in February 2021 and investigate clay minerals in Jezero Crater that had been filled with a large lake ~3 billion years ago.
Perseverance will also collect soil and rock samples to be returned to Earth in the next 10-15 years.
Clay minerals from Mars’ surface will be used to learn about climate and water activity in Jezero Crater, and may also help in understanding the origin of life.
Some scientists are exploring the idea that clay minerals may have played a fundamental role in the origin of life on Earth because of their unique crystal structure, a process known as abiogenesis. Their ability to absorb, concentrate, and organize materials into organic molecules makes them ideal templates for developing complex structures like proteins and even DNA.
Shelagh Leutwiler – Visual Artist
Anna Szynkiewicz – Associate Professor, University of Tennessee
Rhianna Moore – Graduate Student, University of Tennessee
