ROOTED: Perspectives on Grounding
Don Green: My Nature Distilled
Nanu La Rosee: Homely Comforts
Kimberly Varnadoe: Searching for Center
Exhibition Dates: May 1 – June 1, 2024
Also open for:
Gallery Hop: Friday, May 3, 7-9 pm
Art Crush: Friday, May 17, 7 – 9 pm
Artist’s reception: Thursday, May 23, 5 – 7 pm
Artworks Gallery presents three artists, three perspectives. ROOTED: Perspectives on Grounding is a combination of the work of three artists exploring similar themes: how do we find grounding in an unstable world?
Don Green, “Untitled”
Don Green finds grounding by connecting with nature. In his work, My Nature Distilled, Green reflects on the stillness it takes to appreciate the influence of the natural world with attention on the subtle gifts we find when connecting to nature. His large paintings are inspired by the land, rocks, streams, and trees. His sculpture re-presents found and gifted wood, some considered special by their unique burels or knots, or contorted grains. The trees incorporated into his sculpture are repurposed and given another life to share.
Nanu La Rosee, “Poodle”
Nanu La Rosee, Homely Comforts, is a collection of small paintings that focus on the little things that bring comfort to people in dark times. While we all find comfort in various ways, such as spiritual sources or mindfully engaging in familiar household tasks, La Rosee finds a measure of comfort in a variety of animal figurines and dolls arounds the house that belonged first to her grandmother, then her mother, now her. These objects are a connection to prior generations and the trials that they endured. The figurines have expressive faces, seemingly in reaction to some terror or challenge they are confronted with. They wear their experience on their worn surfaces. The creation of these paintings has been an introspective process, reflecting on the intimacy of small-scale images that may serve as a portable talisman for hard times. The images have a strongly worked surfaces, lending a messy sort of vulnerability, with a touch of humor, which hints at the hope for the future.
Kimberly Varnadoe, “Greener Pastures”
Kimberly Varnadoe is Searching for Center. Centering is the practice of accessing an internal state of consciousness that is neutral, calm, steady, alert, active, and present. When we are out of Center, we can’t trust ourselves because we’re disconnected from our instincts and our true feelings. Any approach that brings you to a state of “at-homeness” within yourself can be considered a centering practice. Painting is one of the most direct methods that Varnadoe employs to find Center. These paintings represent a way of working that is spontaneous and intuitive, staying focused on connecting with mind, body and spirit, remaining open to a healthy disenchantment with the finished painting, Engaging with art addresses the holistic interplay of mental and spiritual health. The paintings in this exhibition document Varnadoe’s Search for Center.
Don Green received his MFA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin in 1966, his BFA from Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois in 1964, and an Advertising Art Degree from the American Academy of Art, Chicago, Illinois in 1956. Green has been a member of Artworks Gallery for 30 years.
Nanu La Rosee has been a member of Artworks Gallery since 1991. Her work as a librarian and passionate amateur musician informs her approach to making art; a combination of research and going where the ideas lead. She primarily makes small to medium size works using acrylic or oil paint, enhanced with collage, transfers and drawing. She attended UNCSA in Visual Arts and Music prior to receiving a BFA from Washington University in St. Louis.
Kimberly Varnadoe received her BFA in Painting from the University of South Alabama and her MFA in Printmaking from the University of Memphis. She currently works in oil painting as a meditation practice and explores automatic mark making. She enjoys experimentation and feels that art is most alive during the art creation — the final work of art is the record of the process. Varnadoe is a retired Art Professor from Salem College where she mentored artists for more than 25 years. She has been a member of Artworks Gallery since 2003, serving on the board and serves on the boards of Associated Artists of Winston-Salem and DADA, the Downtown Arts District Association. She is a Founding Artist of Artfolios, an online fine art gallery, where her work can be viewed online. She maintains a studio with the Culture WS collective in Winston-Salem.
This exhibit is free and open to the public.
