THE FOCUS

Cat Peña’s artwork seeks to incite social change in hopes of bringing self awareness to the viewer and to our surrounding social structures. The essence of her work is situated in art happenings, installations, collaborations, performances, and social sculptures that intersect art, the everyday, and public space. Peña’s creative process includes concept driven research, collaboration and creative problem solving to set the perimeters of what is possible prior to determining how a piece may look or functi...

I am interested in exploring the power structure of mythology through manipulation of classical allegories. Mythology continues to be relevant in contemporary culture because of its strong use of metaphor. Tad Lauritzen Wright, Studio Visit, December 2016 Tad Lauritzen Wright, Studio Visit, December 2016 Mythology constantly finds its way into movies, plays, books, music, and art. The stories are repeated, rearranged, and rethought. Much of the time we don’t even know that myth is the basis for the narrative we are en...

My paintings and works on paper pursue abstraction as an intimately coded language of mark-making and editing, producing artworks that invite the consideration of process and materiality in painting as a site for new modes of visual discovery. I consider this work to be an ongoing consideration of process in abstraction, and a central theme is the perception of time via the experience of material handling and mark-making. Richard Feaster, Studio Visit, November 2016 Richard Feaster, Studio Visit, November 2016 Presented in...

I am influenced by my immediate surroundings. Since 2008, I have split my time mostly between Memphis and New York. Working in both cities has inspired a sense of exploration and a certain amount of nervous anxiety in my paintings and drawing allowing for the funky raw history of Memphis to collide with the energy of New York City. Pinkney Herbert, Studio Visit, November 2016 Pinkney Herbert, Studio Visit, November 2016 This dichotomy fires my intuitive impulses, allowing them to surface and...

Anna Wehrwein is an artist living and working in Knoxville, TN. She is originally from the Boston area and received her BS in Art and BA in English/Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is currently an MFA candidate in Painting and Drawing at the University of Tennessee. Anna Wehrwein, Studio Visit, July 2016 Anna Wehrwein, Studio Visit, July 2016 My work explores the intersection of perspectival, color, and social space. Using drawing as a starting point, I’ve made pa...

As an artist, I want you to care about something as much as I care. To do that I make work that is at the same time familiar, and a bit strange – mysterious and, I hope, poetic. I want the work to be accessible on numerous levels. Greely Myatt, Studio Visit, November 2016 I attempt that through the selection of materials, treatment of form, use of subject matter and the method of presentation. I remain conscious of how my work rubs up...

My work embodies the transformational spirit of the vernacular. I search for and collect articles and materials with a specific history. I then add to the history of the thing by employing multiple techniques and processes such as airbrushing, spray painting, vacuum forming, or simply reassembling the object. Over the past sixteen years, I have been professionally custom airbrushing at t-shirt and car shops, athletic events, carnivals, festivals, and homes. Customizing and personalizing things is to me a rite. I...

The images I make are unplanned and improvised. I work spontaneously and tend to work on multiple pieces at the same time. Typically, I am terrible with organization, including but not limited to arranging my materials. Josh Elrod, Studio Visit, October 2016 Josh Elrod, Studio Visit, October 2016 What I mean by this I is rarely feel prepared to make anything, and I just use whatever I can find on hand at the moment. I'm largely self taught and increasingly my...