This September, the Gallery at the Park presents a new 2D and 3D exhibition from Anne Greenwell Collett and Denise Hagood.
Anne Greenwell Collett is a mixed media artist who works primarily on paper. Her pieces have been described as geometric, expressionist, cartoony and patterned. She has had work shown in galleries across the country, including in Seattle, Chicago, Austin and New York City.
Collett studied painting at the University of Texas while earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She later attended the Penland School of Craft where she studied block theory and double weave techniques on the floor loom.
Collett has been greatly inspired by the beautiful quilts made by her mother and grandmother, and her interest in textiles is reflected in the patterns found in her paintings.
“For me, pattern represents visual percussion, like a drumbeat that can attract and mesmerize the visual listener,” Collett states. “In my recent drawings, I use shape and pattern to combine perspectives in a kaleidoscopic way. By veering from rational reality, I give room for the reality of the heart, mind and imagination.”
The 3D aspect of the exhibition is provided by Denise Hagood, a jewelry artist and designer who uses leather, gemstones and brass hardware to create unique pieces. The hardware she uses comes from items such as antique furniture pulls and trim, hinges, Victorian era buckles and spent bullet shell casings.
Hagood strives for a rustic appearance in her work that differs from traditional jewelry, which she believes can sometimes be “too pretty and too precious.” She characterizes her own pieces as not pretty, but intriguingly attractive, and not precious, but uniquely valuable.
Hagood’s primary inspiration comes from a necklace made by her father in 1970. Her father used bale wire, salvaged metal, beach glass and coral to create a piece Hagood describes as “elemental, almost spiritual.”
Hagood says, “It made me realize at a young age that valuable jewelry can be made with humble materials. It is this way of thinking that compels me to work with the vintage and antique materials I find today.”
The exhibition from Anne Greenwell Collett and Denise Hagood will be on display at the Gallery at the Park from Aug. 30 to Sept. 24. The artist reception will be on Sunday, Sept. 4, from 1 to 3 p.m.
