Holiday Potluck & New Exhibition
Bring a dish to share and enjoy a variety of homemade treats while mingling with friends, family, and fellow art lovers. Whether it’s a
favorite holiday recipe or something new, we can’t wait to sample it all!
We’re excited to feature the work of two talented local artists: Jen Coon and Kathleen Hall
Their unique pieces will be on display, so come enjoy some culture and support local talent.
Jen Coon
Originally from Western NY, Jen earned a BFA from SUNY Purchase, where she began exploring identity and social constructs during the 1980s, a time when queerness and "otherness" was often stigmatized. These themes continue to shape her work and perspective.She studied printmaking at UNC-Chapel Hill and learned the Moku Hanga technique at Penland School of Craft. A former member of the NC Printmakers Guild, she has exhibited throughout the state, including at the North Carolina Museum of Art, where she works in Visitor Experience. She has a studio at Blam! Studios and lives in Raleigh with her (French) partner, and their two friendly cats.
Artist's Statement:
I am interested in the use of printmaking not to make editions of sameness, but to make interesting marks and unique works on paper that have more in common with painting. I strive to invent windows into our relationships with the world and each other. In serial monoprints that unfold over time, I combine Eastern and Western techniques where pigment is suspended in either oil or water, then applied to the matrix and transferred onto paper. These processes result in surfaces with different properties and can sometimes be at technical odds. In this case, I enjoy both proactive strategy and responding to factors as they change.
Kathleen Hall
Kathleen Hall grew up in California and received a B.A from U.C. Berkeley. She subsequently lived for several years in France, where she began painting in oils, then moved to England where she lived for eight years. In 2004 she attended the Slade School of Art summer session in London. Her work has been exhibited in France, England, and the United States. In 2015 she moved to Raleigh, North Carolina where she began working with acrylics as well as oils under the tutelage of Peter Marin. Recent exhibits include Sertoma Art Center, and Pullen Art Center.
Artist's Statement:
My art explores themes of the light and darkness we live with, in our world and in our individual lives. We all have our nightmares and persistent betes noires, which are mirrored in the chaos of the world around us. Its divisions, violence, and immense challenges for future generations haunt us. However, by challenging our own nightmares and exposing them to the light of conscious examination, they can become the source of our deepest peace and joy. When the beasts remain in darkness, Jung’s “shadow”, they continue to drive us toward separation, judgment of others, and fear. I have used the darks inhabited by blind, fearful, sinister, and sometimes merely irritating figures as the roots for the blossoming of color, shape, and connection they can become. The lines connect to each other and feed or hinder one another. Some of the paintings are the dreams themselves, the monsters that appear at four o’clock in the morning, others explore the evolution from ugliness to beauty, whether it be inherited from past generations or our very own. The variations in chroma lend richness to the expression of evolved awareness.
We’re excited to feature the work of two talented local artists: Jen Coon and Kathleen Hall
Their unique pieces will be on display, so come enjoy some culture and support local talent.
Jen Coon
Originally from Western NY, Jen earned a BFA from SUNY Purchase, where she began exploring identity and social constructs during the 1980s, a time when queerness and "otherness" was often stigmatized. These themes continue to shape her work and perspective.She studied printmaking at UNC-Chapel Hill and learned the Moku Hanga technique at Penland School of Craft. A former member of the NC Printmakers Guild, she has exhibited throughout the state, including at the North Carolina Museum of Art, where she works in Visitor Experience. She has a studio at Blam! Studios and lives in Raleigh with her (French) partner, and their two friendly cats.
Artist's Statement:
I am interested in the use of printmaking not to make editions of sameness, but to make interesting marks and unique works on paper that have more in common with painting. I strive to invent windows into our relationships with the world and each other. In serial monoprints that unfold over time, I combine Eastern and Western techniques where pigment is suspended in either oil or water, then applied to the matrix and transferred onto paper. These processes result in surfaces with different properties and can sometimes be at technical odds. In this case, I enjoy both proactive strategy and responding to factors as they change.
Kathleen Hall
Kathleen Hall grew up in California and received a B.A from U.C. Berkeley. She subsequently lived for several years in France, where she began painting in oils, then moved to England where she lived for eight years. In 2004 she attended the Slade School of Art summer session in London. Her work has been exhibited in France, England, and the United States. In 2015 she moved to Raleigh, North Carolina where she began working with acrylics as well as oils under the tutelage of Peter Marin. Recent exhibits include Sertoma Art Center, and Pullen Art Center.
Artist's Statement:
My art explores themes of the light and darkness we live with, in our world and in our individual lives. We all have our nightmares and persistent betes noires, which are mirrored in the chaos of the world around us. Its divisions, violence, and immense challenges for future generations haunt us. However, by challenging our own nightmares and exposing them to the light of conscious examination, they can become the source of our deepest peace and joy. When the beasts remain in darkness, Jung’s “shadow”, they continue to drive us toward separation, judgment of others, and fear. I have used the darks inhabited by blind, fearful, sinister, and sometimes merely irritating figures as the roots for the blossoming of color, shape, and connection they can become. The lines connect to each other and feed or hinder one another. Some of the paintings are the dreams themselves, the monsters that appear at four o’clock in the morning, others explore the evolution from ugliness to beauty, whether it be inherited from past generations or our very own. The variations in chroma lend richness to the expression of evolved awareness.