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Art by Kate Roberts on Display Nov. 14-Dec. 9

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Last updated October 25, 2016

By Tina Underwood

Work by ceramic artist and Greenville native Kate Roberts will be on display in Furman University’s Thompson Gallery, Roe Art Building Nov. 14-Dec. 9. Thompson Gallery hours are Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. A reception and talk with the artist is set for Monday, Nov. 14, 6-7:30 p.m. in Thompson Gallery.

Roberts’ exhibition, Indigo Curtain, is free and open to the public. It is presented by the Furman University Department of Art.

In a statement, Roberts describes her philosophy:

My practice is a meditation on time and its role in the decay of objects and memories.  Inspiration is drawn from historical objects, the architecture around me, or a personal relationship. My processes are repetitive and labor intensive; I draw, construct, and weave using materials to depict fleeting, fragile moments and to examine the temporary physicality of an object or idea. The physical properties of my materials – parched, cracked clay and vitreous porcelain – at once delicate and dense – emulate states of decay in nature yet are built and mended by hand. This contradiction, of meticulously crafting the ravages of time, is at the foundation of my work. Accumulation and deterioration; solidity and transparency; entrapment and protection; order and chaos are material and organizational polarities that cause the work to teeter on the edge of viability in a perpetual state of in-between. This push and pull, back and forth, parallels our relationship with the natural world. Nature bares life, nature takes life away, humanity resists, but nature in the end has the final say. And without question the cycle begins again. In questioning the consequences, I create work to find the beauty and the unrest in this temporal state.

Roberts holds a bachelor’s degree from Alfred University (New York) with a major in Ceramics and minors in Art Education and Art History. She also recently earned her MFA (ceramics) from Alfred University. Roberts has traveled extensively and completed residencies and internships at art centers around the world including Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Colorado, La Meridiana (Italy), Cite International des Arts (Paris), Project Art in Massachusetts and Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill in Massachusetts. Her work has been exhibited in museums such as the Tampa Art Museum and Everson Museum in Syracuse, N.Y. Her work has also been included in major exhibitions such as Scripps Ceramic Annual and Ceramic Top 40.

For more information about the exhibition, contact the Furman University Department of Art, (864) 294-2074. Or visit the artist’s website at this link.

 

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