Arrowmont Connections: Alyssa Coffin, 2018-19 AIR, sells her book, Remergence, to support her art

Arrowmont is a special community full of creative people – a family who know that coming together and making art is important. We talk a lot about the Arrowmont Experience – connecting through craft and community. That connection exists beyond physical proximity. It is in shared memories and new ideas. It lives in the friendships we make with each other. It grows when we learn and support one another.

Whether on campus or off, we are connected as members of the Arrowmont family. Over the next few weeks, we are going to share stories from our community of instructors, residents, and students in a new series, Arrowmont Connections.

Stand on reflected mystery.

With crowning sight, question every wall

into a window.

Alyssa Coffin is a recent Artist-in-Residence (2018-2019), who moved to Knoxville after her residency was complete in 2019. She is an interdisciplinary artist from New England. She graduated from Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, Massachusetts in 2014 where she received a BFA in illustration with a fine art emphasis and an independent study in creative writing. She spent a semester studying abroad in Ireland in her junior year to take some time to explore her work more independently. While there she discovered a personal visual language in sculpture, installation and performance. At Arrowmont, Alyssa had the opportunity to work with the Smoky Mountain National Park and collaborate with their artists-in-residence to create new sensory work. She wrote a reflection of her experience on our blog – click here to read her 2019 spotlight.

During her residency, Alyssa published a book, Remergence, which juxtaposes poetic reflections with her artwork as an exploration of death and creation. She is selling these books as a means of support while she launches a new project in response to these unusual times, The Space of Silence.

Alyssa writes,

Remergence is a curated compilation of the artwork I created in 2017. It is primarily a juxtaposing of my tree sculpture series made in Providence, Rhode Island and my performative sculpture series made while in residency at the Burren College of Art in Ireland. Accompanying poetic statements reveal and connect themes throughout, giving my viewers an access point to my narrative direction.

62 pages
Hardcover, perfect bound
7×11 in

Limited run additions are available for $65 (+ $3.50 shipping) or the PDF can be purchased for a donation of any amount. Please email Alyssa at [email protected] for details about ordering.