The Beatrice M. Haggerty Gallery proudly announces the opening of a two-person exhibition,
“What Remains,” featuring artists Rachel Meginnes and Assistant Professor of Ceramics
Kelly O'Briant. The exhibition is curated by Penland Gallery Director Kathryn Gremley
of the Penland School of Craft in North Carolina. In 2001, O’Briant received a two-year
Core Fellowship from the Penland School of Craft, where Meginnes recently completed
a three-year residency.
Both artists will give presentations at the opening reception on Thursday, Feb.1, at 5:30 p.m. in the Haggar Auditorium located in the Haggerty Art Village on UD's Irving campus, followed by a reception in the gallery. The exhibition will remain available for viewing through Saturday, March 3, 2018.
“What Remains” speaks to both the visual and the conceptual depth of the inherent memory embedded in the works of Meginnes and O'Briant.
Meginnes’ material of choice — reclaimed textiles — forms the foundation of her process: a physical and metaphorical layering of wear and re-adaptation. Using old, discarded textiles, Meginnes transforms vintage quilts by beginning with the quilt tops or with the compressed and batted stitching found inside of quilts. She then works on these surfaces to apply paint, metal leaf, image transfers, stitching, sanding and other various materials and techniques, creating artwork similar to an abstract painting while still retaining traces of the original pattern, color and wear of the quilt. Her work results in compelling objects that evoke senses of memory and loss.
In the work of O’Briant, the remainders are often phantom forms — such as a chimaera or an abstraction of scientific theory. Her work in ceramics often explores the notions of dark matter, light and shadow, and the passage of time. In this exhibition, O’Briant mines the emotional effect of unsettlement and reconstruction – the physical act of carrying the past forward. Her exhibition centerpiece, “All the Good Things,” displays dozens of gold-lustered porcelain bowls containing porcelain seeds, which sit on porcelain objects that resemble concrete blocks. According to O’Briant, these seeds represent her migratory life and the generosity of the people she has encountered along the way.
It is only fitting that this exhibition arrives at the University of Dallas, reflecting O’Briant's extensive travels and her recent arrival on the university’s Irving campus.
Learn more about "What Remains" at the Beatrice M. Haggerty Gallery.
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