Art Exhibits “Lost and Found” and “Fixtures, Contraptions, and Other Composites” starts February 3

LENOIR, NC (January 11, 2017)…The Caldwell Arts Council, located on 601 College Avenue, SW, Lenoir will have the following art exhibits on display February 3 – April 1, 2017.

“Lost and Found” will feature a sculptural cave installation by Savannah Tester (Lenoir NC), encaustic artwork by Jane Wells Harrison (Lenoir NC), and ‘tunnel books’ by Lauren Faulkenberry (Whittier NC) on the main floor.

“Fixtures, Contraptions and Other Composites” will feature an installation of sculptural artwork by Memphis Tennessee artist Sara Good.

An opening reception will be hosted by Caldwell County Schools Association of Educational Office Professionals (CCSAEOP) on Friday, February 3, 2017, from 5-7pm to welcome the artists and is free & open to the public.

About the artists:

Savannah Tester, a Lenoir artist and visual art instructor in Caldwell County Schools, likes to work with metal, foam, tar, rubber, paper and other materials because they are quick to respond and easy to fuse together – “That is great for my impatient nature. I find working with these types of materials allows me to work through my ideas more efficiently because I do not get so caught up with tedious process.” Organic form is important to Savannah, and she draws inspiration from natural textures and shapes, specifically cave formations. “I like to create objects and environments that echo natural spaces and organic forms … objects that you want to poke with a stick.” Savannah Tester is the art teacher for West Lenoir Elementary School and Valmead Elementary School. She grew up in Caldwell County and graduated from UNC Greensboro with a BFA in sculpture in 2014.

Jane Wells Harrison is a Lenoir artist residing in Happy Valley, and works primarily with paint media, often encaustic. Collage is usually an element of her work; therefore the paintings can be characterized as shape and color-based abstractions. “My ideas come from day to day routine and the news, so underlying content is frequently prompted by current events both personal and global. During a winter residency in January 2016, I began working with maps as my primary collage material, supplemented with old airmail international envelopes and stamps. The seeds of this work began with a reaction to the idea behind political gerrymandering – a practice used to rearrange maps to serve a particular end. As I worked, the concepts grew more expansive, resulting in ideas of rearranging maps to record events, to document population segments, to contrast rural with urban and national with international. Can these works begin to symbolize ideals of repair, connection and unity as contrasted with conflict, division, and isolation?”

Jane has a Master of Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing from East Carolina University where she was influenced by professors Paul Hartley and Robert Ebendorf. Teaching experience includes East Carolina University, Pocosin Arts, Caldwell Community College, and Penland School of Crafts.

Lauren Faulkenberry is a novelist and book artist living in Whittier, NC. Her artist books include letterpress printing, handmade paper, and paper cuts created by hand. She has exhibited these works across the United States and in Chile, South Korea, and Australia and her work is included in numerous Special Collections libraries, including those of Washington University, Duke University, Baylor University, and the University of Florida among others. Her “tunnel books” are made of a variety of handmade papers with letterpress prints. “In creating books and prints, I am most interested in preserving memory and mapping patterns. An interest in anthropology, mythology, and storytelling drives me to expose layers of meaning and complexity, and I enjoy examining how our lives become intertwined and how certain patterns in behavior, speech, shared imagery, and landscape emerge over time.” Lauren has taught at Penland School of Crafts, Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking, and Asheville Bookworks.

Sara Good is coming from Memphis, Tennessee to install her exhibit in the upstairs gallery. “Fixtures, Contraptions, and Other Composites” describes a body of recent sculptural works informed by a layering of sources, ideas, experiences, and sightings. “Of these, I was initially inspired by the highly imaginative, fluid process of conceptualization practiced by glass and metal artist, Ginny Ruffner. Another recent influence derives from the artifactual character of such historic buildings as the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple in Memphis, and Huntsville’s revived Lowe Mill Building. To add, I have long found particular appeal in the clumsiness and immediacy of the makeshift, and in the humble, at times quirky ingenuity of the homemade.” Sara Good received an MFA in Sculpture from the University of Memphis, where she later taught Studio Art and Art History classes. She has exhibited sculpture and sculptural installations in the South, Southeast, and Midwest.

About the Caldwell Arts Council:
The Caldwell Arts Council mission is to establish and maintain an awareness and appreciation of cultural arts in Caldwell County, to encourage participation in art events, and to offer various educational opportunities and administrative services in support of artists, arts agencies, and audiences. Located at 601 College Ave SW in Lenoir, operating hours are Tuesday-Friday 9am-5pm and Saturday 10am-2pm.