Loose Connections | 2019-2020 Artists-in-Residence

March 21, 2020

March 21 – May 10, 2020 | Sandra J. Blain Gallery

“Coming to a new place it is easy to feel isolated, disconnected from those around us, not accustomed to such environs, we crave an ill-defined attachment, whether to each other, to ourselves, to the time and place we inhabit, to the objects we make. We float along in our day-to-day tasks, co-existing in the solitude of our studio practices and research. We are alone, together. We ask ourselves: What is my relation to this? The differences can jump out immediately, glaring and obvious, but if we pause and reflect a little longer networks borne of vague and imprecise bonds start appearing; the human touch in all or our work, whether through material manipulations – you can feel the implied human presence in a ring, a chair, a bowl, the literal depiction of the human form, or the reminder of the persons at the center of the fight for justice and liberation.

Loose Connections is the culmination of 5 different artists living and working together for the past year. Somewhere in our subconscious these shared experiences have lodged, taken root and ultimately informed our creative processes. Whether utilitarian or abstract, literal or symbolic, these objects are a testimony to our time, condition and passion experienced here at Arrowmont.” – 2019-2020 Artists-in-Residence Exhibition Statement

The Artists-in-Residence Program is an 11-month program which provides early career, self-directed artists time, space and support to experiment and develop a new body of work in a creative community environment. Each year, five artists of different media are selected for the eleven-month program, which begins mid-June and continues through late May of the following year. Participants receive exhibition opportunities, teaching experience, professional development and a private studio.