May 5 – 28, 2023 | Arrowmont Gallery in Knoxville
Pentaculum is an invitational short-term residency at Arrowmont designed to provide artists with unfettered time and space to work alongside peers, friends and colleagues. Held annually in early January and mid-May, working artists in ceramics, fibers, metals, 2D, wood & sculpture, and writing spend a week at Arrowmont to work on independent projects. Pentaculum offers an intimate atmosphere for personal artistic growth and the opportunity to strengthen and build meaningful relationships within the art and craft field. Participants experience a retreat at Arrowmont to invigorate their studio practice and deepen their connections to the craft community. Pentaculum experience is by invitation only from one of the Pentaculum coordinators: Joetta Maue and Emily Shaffer are coordinators for the Spring Pentaculum in the textiles and metals studios respectively.
Joetta Maue is a multi-faceted artist that has had work exhibited with galleries and museums nationally & internationally.
As an act of sustained meditation on the sublime within the every day, I make work inspired by the banal and its coexistence with the profound. As I search to find answers to the unanswerable questions what I do find is a world full of light & dark, sound & silence, intimacy & loneliness, and joy & sorrow collaborating in union with each other. Everything sits inside of nothing, this is what I seek, question, and investigate.
The work on view with Arrowmont Gallery is from an ongoing and recent series What moves… I am enamored with and inspired by the aspects of our lives that are often overlooked but are in fact the evidence and/or map of our daily presence in this life, this moment, on this earth. I track the sunlight as it moves through my everyday landscapes, I collect the detritus of my process of living through documents, words, the act of collecting dust and sweepings, and the photographic process as an attempt to hold on to and slow down the pace of life as well as invite myself, and the viewer, to be fully present in the moment.
My studio practices involve labor-intensive techniques that force me to work slowly, meticulously, and daily on the work- the finished work becomes a map of a daily mediation on these subjects. The labor of making is an investigation in finding the sacred in the small and the everyday. Though the autobiographical drives the work and is necessary for it to exist, ultimately it is transcended, enabling the viewers to have their own independent relationship to the work.
She is currently a Lecturer at Northeastern University, Lesley University and UMASS as well as an invited instructor at a number of programs and institutions across the country.
Joetta lives in New England with her family.
Website: joettamaue.com
Instagram: @joettamaue
Emily Shaffer is a contemporary studio jeweler working full-time in her studio, Emily Shaffer Studio, located in Maine.
My jewelry collections are designed and created using traditional metalsmithing techniques. These ancient techniques, use of precious metals, and personal skill set guide the wearable forms and structures created specifically for body adornment. My vision is to design and make contemporary jewelry with a coinciding brand that is clean, modern and versatile. I seek and build balanced compositions of line and negative space. Limiting my color palette, and my obsession for smooth, clean surfaces, produces collections of functional pieces that support my vision. This focus also allows for a greater emphasis on the body and the structural, linear qualities of each piece. My overarching brand encompasses my life experiences, personality, unique manipulation of timeless aesthetics, and love for sharing this fine craft medium and resulting work with the public.
Emily made her way to Maine in 2014 after receiving B.F.A in Crafts concentrating in fine metals, and a B.S. in Art Education from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. Upon arriving in Maine, she immediately began a formative one-year internship with former jeweler and gallery owner, Cara Romano. This experience marked the beginning of her jewelry career and relationship with the Maine Crafts Association (MCA). After and while working with the MCA, Emily grew her contemporary jewelry collection and brand, winning awards just as the prestigious Halstead Grant, and taught workshops at places like Haystack Mountain School of Crafts and Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. She currently is focusing on her business, growing her collections, refining and expanding her technical skillset, and enjoying her home and local community in Maine. You can find her work online, on social media, and in juried craft shows and galleries around the country.
Website: emilyshafferstudio.com
Instagram: @emilyshafferstudio
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.
