Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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May 6-12, 2015 UCW 15 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM The Altered Forms of Robin Teas and Katey Austin by SONI MARTIN Either real or illusion, local artists Robin Teas and Katey Austin both explore ideas about shaping space in their respective mediums. Robin Teas, a ceramicist and Katey Austin, a painter, have been invited to share their work with the public during the opening of The Altered Forms of Robin Teas and Katey Austin at Gallery 208 on May 12. Teas and Austin are both instructors in the Department of Art at Fayetteville Technical Community College. Teas received her Masters of Fine Art in Ceramics at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., in 2006. Since 2009, she has been teaching ceramics, 3D design, sculpture and drawing at FTCC; as well as becoming the art gallery director at FTCC. With a busy schedule, her presence has been felt in the community as an advocate for the arts, an exhibiting artist and an inspiration to the many art students at FTCC. Teas' colleague, Katey Austin, a recent graduate of the University of North Carolina- Greensboro, is exhibiting a series of paintings. She earned her Masters of Fine Art in Painting in 2014. Austin, who teaches drawing, painting and 2D design, is sharing her layered and complicated approach to interpreting the spatial relationships of cityscapes and interiors through color, pattern and mark making. The Altered Forms of Robin Teas and Katey Austin is the first exhibition at Gallery 208 to pair a ceramicist and a painter. The unlikely combination becomes an opportunity for visitors to compare subtle similarities by artists who are engaged in different mediums; both explore how they respond to the physicality of the "the real." First and foremost, both artists have a command over the formal aspects of composition, shape, volume and texture. Color is important to both and process dictates over content. Surface and volume are relevant and result in the actual dimensionality of the ceramic form or the illusionary aspect of a painting. Ever present for both is the response to flatness and fullness, retreat and advance. Each in their own way answers something about how they view the world and transports us from the ordinary to an intuitive and altered place or shape. The ceramics of Teas evoke a fluid, organic movement and a graceful interpretation of the potential of clay. Teas shared: "The works I am doing for the show are altered vase forms. I am attempting to translate the soft working properties of clay into the vitreous, permanent state the clay remains in after the glaze firing. There is a wonderful quality to the moist, working consistency of clay. For me, this is the time the clay almost seems alive it is both playful and plastic and the surface of the clay has a wondrous quality that reflects light. I feel I am using the clay to express the material qualities of it that I find most engaging when I capture or freeze the moment that clay displays the tension of the forming process and by developing glaze surfaces which seem soft to the touch and reflect light." In comparison, Austin's paintings are often low key with limited amounts of pure color to create rhythm and movement in the work. Not concerned with mathematical perspective, Austin creates depth by juxtaposing warm and cool colors — references from her environment are coded into a coherent, color-space-place. Austin reveals content when she references her interpretation of architectural interiors: "Through perceptual drawing, painting and collage I am interested in visually navigating and mapping the space and form of domestic interiors, specifically that of my childhood home. I create with the notion of seeing my home as one image that simultaneously has isolated, autonomous moments. Through additive spatial maneuvers, my process is perceptually based on inventive exploration of idiosyncratic shapes that act as mark and object. The process and image are tied. By constructing and deconstructing the architectural tectonic plates on a small scale, I am identifying the harmony and chaos of color and space of specific locations within the image as a whole." A delightfully comparative exhibition between two artists, the public is invited to meet both artists during the opening on May 12 at 208 Rowan Street between 5:30–7 p.m. The exhibit will remain up until mid-July. For more information, call 484-6200. SONI MARTIN Art Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@upand- comingweekly.com. String Art by Katey Austin is one of the many pieces of art work that will be on display at Gallery 208. The new exhibit focuses on the work of Austin and Robin Teas, both instructors in the Department of Art at Fayetteville Technical Commu- nity College. Gallery 208 is located in the corporate office of Up & Coming Weekly. Does your advertising leave you feeling this way? Advertising can be pretty complex. You may not know which way to turn. ere is a sign you can rely on — ours. Call us today so that our professionals can make the most of your advertising investment. Free Papers Working For You Another sign we're working for you. 484-6200 wwwupandcomingweekly.com