Meet the Artist:
Sara Hughes, Painter (Auckland, New Zealand)
How did you hear about the residency program at the Center?
My husband and fellow artist Gregor Kregar was a winter AIR at McColl Center for Visual Art two years ago. I spent some time with him here when he had the residency and I enjoyed it so much that that I decided to apply. It is great that he is now also able to spend a period of time with me here now on my residency.
Tell us about your experiences so far at the Center. I am a few weeks into my residency and I have been spending a lot of time experimenting and developing new ideas. I think a residency is a fantastic opportunity to research, test and try things out, I see it as a chance to challenge and advance my work. For me a residency is not just about making finished work, it is a period of time when I can evolve my practice and leave with new ideas to continue working on.
What do you hope to accomplish in the remainder of your residency?
I have many things I want to accomplish – I will just have to see how much time I have! I want to develop some of the ideas I have begun working on. I will begin my outreach which is to create an art work for the windows of Design Within Reach. I am interested in new media, its possibilities and the way I can use it in relation to painting, so I also want to utilize the Media Lab while I am here.
How do you think your involvement with the community and your outreach projects will affect your residency?
My outreach involves making a work for a shop space; it is not a gallery space where people expect to view art. I chose to work in the windows of Design Within Reach as I see this as an intermediary space; it is public in that you don’t have to come into the shop to see the work, yet the work is not outside and can therefore be removed from the constraints and material restrictions of permanent public art. I am interested in how art can interact with the wider community and this opportunity will allow me to create a new work and develop a concept in relation to this space. |
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Phantasmagoria: Specters of Absence
Opening reception, February 8, 6-9PM
February 8 to April 26, 2008
Over two hundred years ago, in the heady atmosphere of post-revolutionary Paris, a form of popular entertainment concerned with the theme of death and the otherworldly, captured the public’s imagination on a massive scale. The Phantasmagoria, as it was known, combined optical techniques with various stage effects to captivate an impressionable public with illusory images that referred to the fleeting nature of earthly existence, death and afterlife. Those same concerns are still with us today, and a comparable trend can be seen in works by some contemporary artists, who create ghostly images to reflect on notions of absence and loss, often using ephemeral, immaterial mediums such as shadows, fog, mist and breath. The artists in this exhibition play with perception and phenomenological experience, often seducing viewers with haunting images before the disturbing implications of those images are understood.
Phantasmagoria: Specters of Absence is a traveling exhibition co-organized by iCI (Independent Curators International), New York, and the Museo de Arte del Banco de la República, Bogotá, Colombia, and circulated by iCI. The guest curator for the exhibition is José Roca. The exhibition, tour and catalogue are made possible, in part, by the iCI Exhibition Partners and the iCI independents.
Winter 2008 Artist-in-Residence Exhibition and Reception
Featuring a variety of media and techniques including sculpture, video, installation, painting and photography, the Winter 2008 Artist-in-Residence Exhibition and Reception will be presented in conjunction with Phantasmagoria: Specters of Absence. More...
Open Studio Saturday
February 23, 2008, 11 am to 4 pm
During Open Studio Saturdays artists work in their studios with the doors open. It is an opportunity for the public to meet the artists and learn about their art as well as view the current exhibition.
February Workshops
Jewelry Fundamentals
Jewelry Workshop with resident teaching artist, Pam Wittfeld. Investigate the basics of working with non-precious metals as an introduction to jewelry fabrication. Processes will include drawing, sawing, etching, and piercing. Each participant will be working with a copper plate to design and create their own pair of earrings and cuff bracelets. Cold connections and layering metals will also be explored.
Dates: February 9 and 16; 10 am to 2 pm
Instructor: Pamela Wittfeld
Cost: $95 non-members/$85 members.
Digital Wizardry, Ages 12 - 15
Working with traditional or digital photography, students will learn how to manipulate their images using Photoshop and print high quality images of their art.
Dates: February 21, 28, March 6; 4:00 - 5:30 pm
Instructor: Annabel Manning
Cost: $55 non-members/$45 members.
Egg Tempera
Egg Tempera, is an early method of painting that predates the use of oil resins that was popular in the 14th century. Participants will learn how to prepare their own tempera using egg yolk and “pigment” to create an original painting on a panel. This simple method and contemporary approach makes it a perfect addition to any artist’s studio
Date: February 23, 10 am to 4 pm
Instructor: Ashley Lathe
Cost: $70 non-members/$60 members.
Life Drawing
Taught by Winter Artist-in-Residence Howard Sherman, students will concentrate on composition, line quality, tonality and gesture to strengthen their technical skills. From unsure beginner to master artist this class provides unique challenges and opportunities unlike any other.
Date: February 23, 11 am to 2 pm
Instructor: Howard Sherman, Winter Artist-in-Residence
Cost: $35 members and non-members.
Outreaches
An ArtsTeach Curriculum Connections grant allows students from Hopewell High School and mechanical engineering students from Phillip O. Berry Academy of Technology to work together to create a student exhibition based upon the Center’s exhibition, Phantasmagoria: Specters of Absence. More...
An Artsteach Arts in Education grant allows local artist Ginny Boyd to work with students from Villa Heights Elementary School in creating a permanent exhibition for the school’s library. More...
The Contemporaries
Is the creative process intriguing to you? Are you intellectually curious about art and aesthetics? Do you want to integrate art into your life? If you’ve answered yes to even one of these questions, then The Contemporaries is for you! More...
View the upcoming events for the Contemporaries here!
The Innovation Institute
The sixth 12-week program of The Innovation Institute at McColl Center for Visual Art has just commenced, and as usual, the class is full. In the last three years, since its inception, The Innovation Institute has conducted five 12-week programs and five custom programs with a cadre of participant business leaders from Charlotte and beyond, representing, Wachovia, ASC, National Gypsum, Compass USA, RT Dooley Construction Company, Springs Global USA, Inc., Carolinas HealthCare System and more. In October 2007, The Innovation Institute team traveled to San Jose California to lead a 2-day custom program for Motorola. More...
To learn more about The Innovation Institute or to request a press kit, go to innovationatmccoll.org or contact Suzanne Fetscher at sfetscher@mccollcenter.org.
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