Throughlines: Adornment

Thu, Oct 28 / 7–7:45 pm ET

Join MAD’s Artist Studios residents for Throughlines, a dynamic discussion series in which artists unpack shared themes in their creative practices and examine current issues in contemporary craft, art, and design.

In this iteration of Throughlines, artists Emma Welty and Jen Dwyer will unpack the role of adornment and ornamentation in their weaving and ceramic practices, respectively. Attendees are encouraged to join the artists on camera for this participatory conversation via Zoom meeting. Participants will also have the option to submit questions prior to the program.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Jen Dwyer’s playful ceramic sculptures and otherworldly installations evoke dreams, fantasy, and the desire to escape to a world of one’s own creation. Through ceramics, painting, and installation, Dwyer creates a uniquely powerful, caring, and intimate feminine world, underscored by the artist’s study of Paleolithic talismans, the decadent Rococo aesthetic, and contemporary girlhood culture. During her MAD residency, Dwyer will create a new body of ceramic work, such as vases, urns, sculptures, mirrors, and candelabras, and weave her reoccurring influence of Paleolithic figurines within these works. Dwyer earned her MFA in Ceramics from the University of Notre Dame and her BFA from the University of Washington. She has shown locally and internationally. Recent exhibitions include a solo booth at Spring/Break Art Fair in New York City, Maxon Mills Gallery in Wassaic, and GAA Gallery in Provincetown.

Emma Welty’s research, weaving, and lacemaking practice interrogates her Armenian identity after two generations of assimilation in the United States. Welty's current line of research and writing explores the translations and mistranslations of Armenian lace as it has moved throughout the diaspora, lending itself to further gestures of material translation in the quest for preservation. During her MAD residency, Welty will explore Armenian lace knotting, and the role its portability played in saving the tradition during moments of violent exodus, which echoes loudly today. Welty earned her BFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design and her MFA in Visual Arts and MA in Art History from Purchase College, SUNY. She has taught at Westchester Community College, Purchase College, and the Textile Arts Center.

Images: (right) Emma Welty, Carpet Sculpture With Lace Veil, hand-spun wool ground, with white cotton yarn lace, tassel, and fringe, 12" x 6" x 1"; (left) Jen Dwyer, It Felt Like, 2020, stoneware, porcelain, lace, glaze, 48 x 32 x 5.5 inches.

Please review our health and safety protocols before you arrive. MAD strongly recommends all visitors six months and older are vaccinated against Covid-19 and visitors ages two and up wear face coverings, even if vaccinated. Thank you for your cooperation.

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