Artist explores memory through mealtime rituals
What Virginia-based contemporary wood sculptor Vivian Chiu remembers most about growing up in Hong Kong is mealtime. “The pull I have of home is the vibrancy, the tastes, and the loud conversations around the table as we serve our elders first and ask who wants the last chicken wing,” Chiu shares in a press statement. FAMILY DINNER, a solo show running through August 30 in the John & Robyn Horn Gallery at Penland Gallery, captures these memories in vessels made from weathered crates sourced from Wing on Wo & Co., Chinatown’s longest-standing storefront. “The conjoined vessels explore my family connections [and] the bonds we share, but also the pull I have away from them,” says Chiu. In the FOCUS Gallery this summer, Penland will present Liminal Language, a show that “explores borders and thresholds” with work by Sarita Westrup, a WNC-based fiber artist, and Californian ceramicist Iren Tete. The exhibit will be followed by A Universal Experience, a food-centric display by San Francisco paper artist Reina Takahashi and Philadelphia-based ceramic artist Hiroe Hanazono.
FAMILY DINNER: Vivian Chiu: Through August 30; Reception: Friday, July 18, 4:30-6:30pm
Liminal Language: Through July 26
A Universal Experience: August 12-September 25
Penland Gallery / 3135 Conley Ridge Road, Penland / penland.org/gallery/