September 1 – October 1, 2023 | Arrowmont Gallery in Knoxville
To light a candle is to cast a shadow features artwork by Arrowmont’s 2023-2024 Artists-in-Residence Rosie Amato, Marissa Childers, Karena “Kidd” Graves, M. Kobe, and Dongyi Wu. The five artists in the show explore a range of themes in their work including psychology, domesticity, kinship, fantasy, myth, superstition, symbolism, the passage of time, and confrontations with the unknown. The title of this exhibition is a popular quote adapted from Ursula K. Le Guin’s 1968 fantasy novel A Wizard of Earthsea. The pithy, yet powerful phrase “to light a candle is to cast a shadow,” illuminates the inherent and universal complexities of life with which we all grapple. The dichotomies of light and darkness, of light and shadow, resonate with the themes explored in the artwork on view and offer an apt metaphor for unpacking the ways in which we process a range of human experiences and learn to seek balance and hold space for duality.
This exhibition is curated by 2023-2024 Kenneth R. Trapp Craft Assistant/ Curatorial Fellow Megan Adams.
Megan Adams is an art historian, curator, and community-engaged scholar from Denver, CO. She holds a BA in English from Oklahoma State University and an MA in Art History and Museum Studies from the University of Denver. Adams adopts interdisciplinary approaches to art scholarship and is passionate about studying the relationships between humans and the environment articulated in art throughout time, with a special emphasis on contemporary ecological and environmental art. She has over four years of experience doing curatorial and collections work at art museums and non-profit organizations including Hampden Art Study Center, Madden Museum of Art, Denver Botanic Gardens, Colby College Museum of Art, and Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts.
Instagram: @the_ecominded_art_curator
Rosie Amato is an artist and metalsmith from St. Paul, MN. She holds a BFA in jewelry/metalsmithing and sculpture from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
Website: www.rosieamato.com
Instagram: @rosie.amato_
Marissa Childers was born and raised in the small town of Florence, Alabama. She attended the University of North Alabama, where she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2019 with a focus in ceramics. Upon graduating she worked as a ceramic intern at Anderson Ranch Arts Center and soon after completed her Master of Fine Arts at the University of Oklahoma. Marissa’s work has been shown at numerous galleries across the United States. She was published in the November 2020 issue of Ceramics Monthly, received the NCECA Graduate Fellowship in 2021, was one of Ceramics Monthly’s Emerging Artists of 2022, and has been chosen as one of the 2023 NCECA Emerging Artists.
Website: www.marissachilders.com
Instagram: @marissa_ceramics
Karena “Kidd” Graves is an Artist and Sculptor from Greensboro, NC. They received their MFA from East Carolina University. Their work consists of collecting and repurposing objects and materials into sculptural assemblages, weaving, tufting, and public art. Their current goal is to create art that documents and shares African-American oral stories.
Instagram: @kiddkreates
M. Kobe is from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She earned a BFA in Painting, a BA in Art History from Louisiana State University, and an MFA in Painting from Boston University. Kobe is a multi-disciplinary artist working primarily with found natural materials, clay, and charred bones from family meals. Drawing upon her experiences growing up in the American South, her paintings and sculptures contend with the religious mythologies of her upbringing, notions of home, and cultural inheritance. Kobe is the grand prize recipient of the 2023 Esther B. and Albert S. Kahn Career Entry Award and a recipient of the BU Women’s Council Scholarship, the Constantin Alajalov Visual Art Scholarship, and the Michael Crespo Memorial Scholarship.
Website: www.madelainekobe.com
Instagram: @madelainekobe
Dongyi Wu was born and raised in China. She is a contemporary jewelry artist, who currently lives in Gatlinburg and works as an artist-in-residence at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. Dongyi received her Master’s Degree from Rochester Institute of Technology in the United States, and her Bachelor’s Degree from Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology in China.
Dongyi has her works shown nationally and internationally, such as JOYA 2020 in Barcelona and Schmuck 2018 in Munich. She was one of the winners of Preziosa Young 2020 in Italy, the finalist for the LEAP award in the United States in 2019, and the finalist for the ENJOIA’T 2017 Contemporary Jewellery Award in Spain in 2017. Her works have also been featured in many publications, such as Chinese Contemporary Jewelry Design, New Brooches, Autor Magazine#5 and #6, Jewelry and Metalsmithing Survey, Vol.1, Original Jewelry Design. Her piece is permanently collected by Le Arti Orafe Jewellery School & Academy, in Florence, Italy.
Website: www.dongyiwu.com
Instagram: @dongyi.w
Arrowmont Gallery in Knoxville is located at 110 S. Gay Street and is open Fridays 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm; Saturdays and Sundays, noon – 5:00pm.
