The Essence of Quolor Art Exhibition
by Athelius Pearson
runs through Dec. 2nd
in the Arts Center Lobby Art Gallery
LAYERS OF TIME
AMY EVANS & MARTY MCGIHON
ARTISTS' RECEPTION: OCT. 11 AT 4-7 P.M.
EXHIBITION: OCT. 9 - NOV. 4
Layers of Time
Taking inspiration from the iconic textile mills that were the economic backbone of South
Carolina for almost 100 years, local artists Amy Evans and Marty McGihon present
images that provide a new perspective on these timeworn structures and on the efforts of workers who helped create the industry’s success. Concentrating primarily on
mills in the Upstate, the exhibit “Layers of Time” evokes a sense of history both
real and illusory, depicting the effects of time on both the physical structures of the mills and the historic narrative of the textile industry itself.
While collaborating on this exhibition, the artists’ work evolved in different directions and
mediums, but their work originated from a similar mindset. Each artist has created her
own connection to these historic structures, connecting past to present, forging together
both reality and fabrication. By altering the surfaces of layers in photography, printmaking and collage, their work considers the passage of time and conveys the burying and
recovering of memories. The result is a unique story of place, unfolding images that
reveal not only what is literally left in place, but what is unseen and carried in the
viewer’s imagination.
Artist’s Process: Marty McGihon
Multimedia images were created using charcoal drawings inspired by Lewis Hines’ historic photographs depicting child laborers in early 20th century South Carolina textile mills. The charcoal drawings were transferred and manually printed using acrylic paint on archival rag paper. Collage elements, such as reproductions of historic maps, documents and photographs of mill artifacts, were layered with text relating to the mills, and sealed with acrylic medium.
The small images that are displayed on wooden panels are intimate photographs of portions of textile buildings still standing in the Upstate. These mounted images are Giclee prints on archival paper.
Artist’s Process: Amy Evans
Cotton fabric was scanned on a flatbed scanner at a high resolution. Each piece of cloth was folded or deconstructed prior to being scanned. Photographic images pertaining to the mills were then digitally layered on top of the scanned images of cloth, subtly revealing orenshrouding the subjects of the mill photos.
The artist’s photographs of the mills and artifacts were sometimes used in combination with portraits of South Carolina mill workers, courtesy of Lewis Hines’ free-domain collection of historic photographs from the Library of Congress. The artists’ photographs were printed on acid-free archival rag paper.
Nick Burns aka "Ninja Picasso" & Shayla McClellon
