Every year, the annual core show is a highlight of fall at Penland. It’s a remarkable event: nine core fellows come together to put on an exhibition, and they do all the parts themselves, from creating the work and designing publicity materials to preparing the space and curating the pieces within it.
This year’s show is titled NINE: 2016 Core Fellowship Exhibition. The work will span the range of Penland’s studios, from weaving and wooden furniture to objects in clay and concrete. In many ways, it’s a visual chronicle of one year in the lives of nine emerging artists—their ideas and explorations, their time, their energy, their passion.
Please join us on Friday, October 7th at 8 PM in Northlight to celebrate our core fellows as artists and as vital members of the Penland community. NINE will also be open for viewing October 8 and 9 from noon-6 PM and October 10 from 4-6 PM.
While the pieces below are just a small sampling of what will be up during the exhibition, they are absolutely representative of the creativity and skill that will be on display.
Enameled metal tea set by Rachel Kedinger
Linen and wool ikat dyed tapestry by Daniel Garver, 50 x 35 inches
Cristina Córdova, La persistencia del verdor, ceramic, resin, metal, paper, glass, plastic, wood; background image of Mount Britton, Puerto Rico, by Harvey Barrison; figure: 69 x 24 x19 inches; background: 100 x 144 inches.
The work of ceramic sculptor Cristina Córdova has always been concerned with the human form: the figure and the face, gesture and expression. Her show at the Penland Gallery—her first solo exhibition in the U.S. since 2011—presents two- and three-dimensional images of her family members along with elements that evoke her native Puerto Rico. Titled CERCA Y LEJOS, the exhibition runs through November 20 with an opening reception on Saturday, October 1, from 4:30 to 6:30 PM.
At the center of the exhibition are two life-size, standing ceramic figures: one depicts her husband and the other depicts one of their daughters. The figures stand in front of wall-sized photographs of Puerto Rico that were taken from Internet sources and are presented as photo mosaics. Along with these dioramas are five large portraits of members of Córdova’s family. Drawn on paper using clay slip and other materials, the oversized faces look directly and unflinchingly at the viewer. The show’s title means “near and far” and refers to the proximity of the artist’s family and the distance of her homeland.
Cristina Córdova, Corazón, clay, charcoal, and mixed media on acid-free cardboard, 82 x 60 inches
In talking about this work, Córdova notes that for her it represents a turn toward naturalism. “My work has been described in the past as having to do with surrealism and religious iconography. In this more overtly personal work, I am using images of real places and modeling real individuals.” Penland Gallery director Kathryn Gremley says of the show, “For an artist whose work is both sensory and confrontational, the opportunity to work with an entire exhibition space is ideal: she can move fluidly from wall to floor, she can study the light and create works accordingly, she can force perspective and create narrative groupings without regard to conventional gallery norms.” Taken as a whole, the exhibition creates a form of silent theater that illuminates one artist’s exploration of her personal and cultural identity.
Córdova, who grew up in Puerto Rico and now lives and works near Penland School of Crafts in Mitchell County, North Carolina, has an MFA in ceramics from Alfred University in New York. She has received a North Carolina Arts Council fellowship, a Virginia A. Groot Foundation grant, and the prestigious United States Artists fellowship. Her work is in the collections of the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in DC, the Mint Museum in Charlotte, NC, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Puerto Rico and was recently featured on the cover of Ceramics Monthly magazine. She was a Penland resident artist from 2002-2005 and has taught at the school several times.
Penland’s talented bunch of core fellows: Daniel Garver, Eleanor Anderson, Thomas Campbell, Elmar Fujita, Rachel Kediger, Bryan Parnham, Alex McClay, Morgan Hill, and Kyle Kulchar (with a quilt by Daniel Garver!)
If you’ve been to Penland in the past four decades, you’ve probably met a Penland core fellow. At any given moment, they might be learning new techniques in workshops, helping cook in the kitchen, checking students into meals at the Pines, making work in their own studios, or spending time at their communal house on campus. Core fellows are emerging artists at the very nexus of the Penland community, and the two years they spend living, working, and learning here can be as intense as they are rewarding. Here’s how former core fellows from across the years have reflected on their time in the program:
“During those two years, I met remarkable people and learned tons… There was a steady stream of extraordinary artists passing through the school, teaching, giving demonstrations, and making presentations on their work. There was an informality that made learning an integral part of our daily existence there. It was a life-changing experience.” —Alida Fish, core fellow 1971-1973
“Being a core student was such an important link in my career that it’s hard to imagine how I would have gotten from point A to point B otherwise.” —Critz Campbell, core fellow 1994-1996
“I took advantage of the collective wealth of knowledge that is Penland at any given time—all the instructors and staff and students. Coming out of that program, I had a completely altered understanding of material and process—both what I can do personally and what is possible.” —Jack Mauch, core fellow 2011-2013
“You pick your friends, but this group is just handed to you. You’re thrown together by chance, and then these people become your closest friends for a lifetime.” —Daniel Essig, core fellow 1992-1994
“At Penland, I learned the many ways there are to be an artist: you can be a studio artist, you can teach, you can help other artists. The program exceeded every expectation. Being a core fellow changed my life: the experience gave me the how-to knowledge to make things and the confidence to know that I was good at it.” —Amy Jacobs, core fellow 2004-2006
Penland will be accepting four new students into the Core Fellowship Program for 2017. Applications are due October 15, 2016.For more information, visit the Core Fellowship page.
The reflections above are excerpts of interviews from Inspired: Life in Penland’s Resident Artist and Core Fellowship Programs. This new book includes a history of the core program and interviews with sixteen former core fellows. To purchase a copy of Inspired, call the Penland Supply Store at 828-765-2359 ext. 1321.
