It's Not Hellfire 

Jessica C. White

January 2 - 30, 2010

Twist Art Gallery

Jessica relocated to Asheville, NC after graduating in the spring of 2009 from the University of Iowa with an MFA in printmaking and a Graduate Certificate in Book Studies. There, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, she established Heroes & Criminals Press, a fine press following in the tradition of artisans in the crafts of printing and bookbinding, but with the driving principle that "small animals make first paths" -- ordinary people can make a big impact on the world through simple, everyday actions. Through the press, her goal is to create her own work as well as to act as a vehicle for emerging writers. Along with printing and binding, she continue to explore ideas through painting and drawing.

Artist's Statement:
Similar to the way animals were used in folktales and ancient mythologies to explain the mysterious world of the past, I create images with animals that attempt to make sense of uncertainties in
our world today. Children’s book images, medieval bestiaries, and folk tales inspire my investigations both visually and textually. Much of my exploration revolves around good versus evil, right and wrong, justice, and wonder.

Artist Books by Elizabeth Munger

As a native Iowan, Elizabeth Munger has been making art as early as she can remember. She received her B.F.A in printmaking from the University of Iowa in 2000 and in 2009 her graduate certificate at
University of Iowa’s Center for the Book. She spends most of her days in the studio working on various projects including printing artist books, making paper, and conjuring up numerous new art projects. At
home she can be seen working with textiles as well as combining different materials and mediums to create small collages, but most often she can be found running amuck with her dog, Mr. Pants.

Artist's Statement:
Creating art work is a way to communicate my day to day life, and to reflect on wider themes that overlap my personal experiences with the world around me. My work tends to be autobiographical and
narrative often exploring current life experiences. Various materials and techniques, such as collage, drawing, and print making to reach out visually in hopes of making a connection to a shared human
experience in a language that feels like home. Fabrics, sewing patterns and needle and thread, convey my thoughts and feelings as I piece together my ideas. Textile work is beginning to show up in my prints
and collages fusing together my other interests with my academic/professional environment. This stitching together of worlds is becoming vastly important as I recognize who I am and how I’ve grown as an artist. Choosing recognizable images that include animals, I begin to relate to this image and repeat it in different environments. Exploring the adage of a wolf in sheep's clothing, or the sheep in wolfs clothing, has given light to who I am and who we are as a humans. Drawing on this archetype as part of a repertoire of self portraits, I search for what is there or not there, and an attempt to uncover what is lurking underneath.

Wrench Rupture Suture

Matt Christy

January 2 - 30, 2010

In Twist Etc.

Matt Christy is a writer and an artist from Nashville. He graduated from Watkins College with a BFA in Fine Arts. He has written criticism for Number: an art's journal. Matt might someday pursue a Master's
degree in art criticism and critical theory. 

Watkins five + 5

February 6 - 27, 2010

In Twist Art Gallery

An exhibition by Watkins College of Art and Design Fine Arts Department.
Faculty: Brady Haston, Terry Thacker, Ron Lambert, Derek Cote and Kristi Hargrove
Watkins Students: Lauren Willis, Clayton Lancaster, Robert Dunn, Claudia O'Steen, Alexis Hicks and Tim Marchbanks.

Oliver and Lucha

March 6 - 27, 2010

Twist Art Gallery & Twist Etc.

Oliver was born Decatur, GA and lived there until June of 2009. She has since moved to Cleveland, Ohio. Art has always been a huge part in Oliver’s life with influences such as Dr. Seuss, Shel Silverstein, Jim
Henson, Egon Schiele, and her grandmother Marla Holcomb. Today, she works in illustration, painting, printmaking, bookbinding, and creating puppets. Lucha Rodriguez was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela. She earned her BFA in Graphic Design from The Art Institute of Atlanta in 2006. She is currently a MFA candidate in Printmaking at The Savannah College of Art and Design Atlanta. Rodriguez’s print work has been shown in Mexico, India, France and the United States. She has produced various “pink projects” ranging from etchings, monoprints, serigraphies, to immersive surreal environments. Rodriguez develops series of organ inspired “Creaturettes” which expand into her own extravagant symbolism related to the body as an internal space.

Every Memory Has A Golden Name

Irene Wills , Mark Sloniker and Ellen Sadler

April 3 - 25, 2010

Twist Art Gallery & Twist Etc.

Mark Sloniker grew up in rural Wisconsin, the son of a factory worker/wood craftsman and a substitute teacher.  He spent most of his youth in the woods watching the animals and putting on operas among the trees.

In high school, he studied music and took a few art courses.  He received an associate arts degree from Cornerstone College and a Bachelor of Music from Millikin University. In 1997 Mark moved to Nashville.  Through small steps and good friends, he started taking freelance jobs in commercial art while also working at a non-profit organization. He eventually quit the non-profit and took various jobs ranging from the decorative arts to graphic design.

In 2004, he was approached by his friends who make up the band Venus Hum to do the artwork for their next album, The Colors In The Wheel.  This collaboration grew to encompass everything visual for them including CDs, posters, and even characters. Currently, he is employed by Animax Designs as a workshop supervisor building puppets for major theme parks all over the world.

Artists' Statements:

Mark Sloniker

Decoration has long been a favorite outlet for me in my life.  I’ve always taken mundane photographs and added wild elements to them to spice them up.  Drawing on inspiration from Victorian cartouches and similar forms of adornments, I have created a series of chandelier-like forms covered in filigree
and flowers.   Within this beautiful setting are hidden secret scenes from my childhood and my private thought life.  Scenes that, long ago, seemed to too shameful to reveal to anyone, but now seem to require some measure of decoration much like a reverent monument to a lost part of myself.  

Irene Wills

Her vision for her art is to focus on nature and the landscape around me. Her interpretations are all in the spirit of American impressionists. "Since I am essentially a colorist, color gives me many of my inspirations.  I have been painting for 25 years and have worked in watercolor and oils- now I concentrate on oils. I am attracted to any garden views and landscapes."

Ellen Sadler

She has always loved the beauty of nature, the scope of color and the subject matter to be discovered in creation. She has a special interest in the delicacy and excitement of watercolors, which she has manifested in her paintings for many years. More recently, Ellen has broadened the medium of expression of her artistic interests to include oils.

Minor Victory

May 1 - 29, 2010

Twist Art Gallery & Twist Etc.

Artists:
Patrick DeGuira, Brady Haston, Keith Herzik, Mark Hosford, Chris Kerr, Jennifer Leach, Lesley Patterson Marx, Hans Schmidt Matzen, Bryce McCloud, Paul Nudd, Onsmith, DeeDee Scacci, Tom Stack and Manuel Zeitlin
 

Artists' Statement

Driving through parts of Nashville can eerily remind one of being somewhere in Chicago and there is the same feeling of sprawl and desolation. At times, this feels like we are part of one great American city. However, this is not the case as both cities have their own rich and historical identity and are separated and encircled by America’s farms and countryside. Both Nashville and Chicago are home to and have been home to many iconic and notorious characters. John Wayne Gacy, Bill Murray, Hugh Hefner, Donald Rumsfeld, and countless Blues legends hail from Chicago. Nashville has its own cast of great and infamous characters: country stars that are to numerous to count, the notorious Bettie Page, and even the bumbling Fred Thompson.

The artists in “Minor Victory” are the proverbial pumpkin seeds in the melon we call America and they have walked down the same streets and alleys as Al Capone and Johnny Cash. As to be expected, any show combining artist from these cities will be weird at best. “Minor Victory” has an eclectic mix of irreverent images that lampoon the idea of the traditional print alongside images that push abstraction
toward its own ambiguous goal. Somehow, the artists in this show continue to work with an eye to the future as the country goes through an unsettling economic down turn. This show offers the viewing public a reprieve from the daily saturation of familiar images seen on the ever present viewing screen and gives back a little something more to mull over.