Proximity: An Invitational Show of 10 North Carolina Artists

On View Jan. 27th - Feb. 22nd | Opening Reception Friday, Jan. 30th, 6-9pm
Artist Talk Saturday, Feb. 7th 4-6pm

The Hillsborough Gallery of Arts is pleased to present an invitational show, “Proximity,” featuring the works of ten North Carolina artists. The show will run from January 27th through February 22nd, with an opening reception will on Jan. 30th from 6-9 pm. In addition there will be an artist talk on Saturday, February 7th at 4pm.

The participating artists are: Laura Berendsen Hughes, Doug Dotson, Peter Filene, Beau Lyday, Lauren Markley, Annie Nashold, Carol Retsch-Bogart, Erica Stankwytch Bailey, Brad Tucker, and Michele Yellin. This dynamic exhibition will include works in a variety of media: paintings, photography and photographic collages, jewelry, sculpture, pottery, and mixed media.

Although there will be a rich variety of media and artistic styles represented in this show, a common denominator among all of the exhibiting artists is a dedication to creating works with great depth of meaning. The title of the show, “Proximity,” is meant to encompass the range of their subject matter, from the earthy to the mystic, as well as express admiration for the artistic skill and the emotional energy shown by this talented group of creators.

Painter Laura Berendsen Hughes paints both equine and abstract subjects using layered, textured acrylic surfaces that convey depth and complexity. In her newest pieces, the horses support and carry their riders through the picture frame as a metaphor for significant life changes, challenges, and transitions into new phases. Hughes uses these horses as“symbols of freedom, transformation, and our connection to something greater than ourselves. Ultimately, the relationship depicted is not only deep and spiritual, but also wild, untamed, exhilarating, and free.”

Potter Doug Dotson makes pottery for daily use, looking to the simplicity and strength of natural forms and patterns for direction. Says Dotson, “I make pots in a way that shows the marks from my hands, from the tools I use, and from the fire that transforms mud to pottery. I want the hardy, organic feel and appearance of the pottery to be as grounding to the pot’s eventual owner as it is to me when I make it.”

Peter Filene’s photography uses camera double exposures to build visual layers suggesting movement and the passage of time. His collages for this show, created from torn old photographs, make the layering process physical and move it further into abstraction. According to Filene, “these photo collages intrigue me with their painterly qualities—multilayered, somewhat mysterious, and verging on abstraction. But they always suggest human forms.”

Beau Lyday does earthy, reverent and spiritual sculptures. They are intricately built architectural patterns done first in wood, then covered completely with distressed and aged metal barn siding. He seeks to create sanctuary and a place of refuge for the viewer. “I feel that a piece of art does not have to be shocking to have worth. Instead, a work can mesmerize a person, moving one to a place of safety or sanctuary and instilling a sense of peace. In these unfathomably violent times, there is a special need for healing art.”

Lauren Markley’s jewelry often references elements related to construction or raw building materials such as schematics, concrete, rebar, or scaffolding. Her work explores themes through a visual language of geometric forms, repeated patterns, and negative space, as well as with surface treatments such as painting, burning, etching, and stitching. Says Markley, “My goal is to create distinctive, evocative jewelry that functions as wearable sculpture.”

Painter Annie Nashold finds jumping off points for her work from photographs, the natural world, intuition and imagination. “My painting practice involves interpreting images from drawings, old family photographs, and imagination,with mixed media. I am seeking an intersection between reality and abstraction, the conscious and subconscious where a mystery and wondering are created within the work.”

Mixed media artist Carol Retsch-Bogart’s love of collage appears in most of her work across all media; from encaustic wax, mixed media, and printmaking to textiles. She layers and builds surfaces adding bits of paper, fabric fragments, even weathered found-objects that add interesting marks, colors, patterns, or a bit of the unexpected. “I find that making art is similar to my earlier career as a clinical social worker and psychotherapist. Working with clients focused on understanding the many layers of their lives which were textured by the complicated nuances of emotion and experience. My art is similar for what is observable on the surface, yet its history exists, obscured at times, in the layers below.”

Jeweler Erica Stankwytch Bailey’s work is both organic and architectural, and is created from the visual fragments of a life of collecting images. “I have always collected shells, seedpods, stones and interesting organic elements. Understanding the foundations or building blocks of materials are the driving force behind my inspirations. I have begun to explore the molecular and crystal structure of the beautiful materials I create with. Using a variety of metalsmithing techniques intended to explore the malleability of silver I am building my visual interpretations of our foundations.”

Brad Tucker makes functional stoneware pottery. For Tucker that means durable pieces that are designed to delight in their daily use, while engaging the eye and enhancing the home. “My work begins with traditional forms—mugs, bowls, jars, and serving pieces—shapes that have carried meaning and purpose across cultures and centuries. I am drawn to the honesty of utility: a pot must feel balanced in the hand, pour smoothly and invite touch. My goal is to create objects that feel rooted in the natural world. When someone uses my work, I hope they sense both the intention and the unpredictability that shaped it, and that these pieces become companions in their daily rituals.”

Michele Yellin finds in her layered and intuitive painting process, a way of exploring inner life and revealing stories. Her artworks are multi-layered and vibrantly colored, featuring abstracted representational imagery. “My paintings evolve organically. I begin by laying down texture and color in a free form way. The textures and colors suggest shapes and spaces in the under-painting, much like clouds create shapes in the sky. I draw and paint onto the canvas the things that I see in the underpainting. Some things stay, others are painted over. Through this process, the painting begins to tell a story. It is how I discover and reveal my inner life.”

Please join us as we welcome this talented group to the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts. Proximity runs from January27th through February 22nd, with a reception during Hillsborough’s Last Friday Art Walk on Friday, January 30th from 6-9pm.

On Saturday, February 7th at 4pm these artists will discuss their artistic vision, creative processes and answer questions about their work.

About the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts:

The Hillsborough Gallery of Arts is owned and operated by 21 local artists and represents these establishedartists exhibiting contemporary fine art and fine craft. The gallery’s offerings include watercolor, oil and acrylic paintings, photography, metal and figurative sculpture, ceramics, scratchboard, jewelry, glass arts, metals, encaustic, enamel, turned woodand handcrafted furniture.