ENTERTAINMENT

Swannanoa Valley Fine Arts League kicks off season with a show

From Staff Reports

Black Mountain News| USA TODAY NETWORK

The Swannanoa Valley Fine Arts League is pleased to open the Fall season with an exciting new art show, “Transience and Imperfection: The Beauty of Wabi-Sabi” at the Red House Studios & Gallery in Black Mountain.

There will be an opening reception from 5 - 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 14.

This exhibit showcases the new and exceptional work of SVFAL members and embraces the traditional Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi, which finds beauty in the impermanent, the imperfect, and the incomplete.

Jean Tomaso Moore's "La Reina de la Casa Roja," pictured here, will be among the on display at the Swannanoa Valley Fine Arts League's upcoming show at the Red House.

Participants were encouraged to let go of their preconceived definition of beauty, to examine the flaws all around us and to appreciate the beauty that comes with the passage of time.

SVFAL artists approached the theme by working within the parameters of the “imperfections” of every day life. The artists used many styles within diverse two- and three-dimensional media to express the brokenness and the unconventional in an enlightened way.

Visitors may see the beauty of a dying tree, a dilapidated barn, a wrinkled face or a sentimental object in literal depictions or abstract representations that evoke the spirit of impermanence and imperfection.

"Ridges," a piece by Barbara Syburg, will be one of many on display at the Red House from Sept. 14 - Nov. 5 as the Swannanoa Valley Fine Arts League presents its first show of the fall season.

The viewer can also see wabi-sabi revealed in the process such as in the thick layers, the drips, and the strokes; and in the actual “flaws” in the materials used, such as the weathered or tarnished objects in assemblages and in the rough textures and irregularities in fibers, wood, and clay creations.

Lynn Newhouse, curator, was pleased with the interest for this show. “It is amazing to see how the artists have conveyed ‘transience and imperfection’ in their work to embody the essence of wabi-sabi.”

Among the pieces to be displayed at the Red House Studios & Gallery from Sept. 14 - Nov. 5 is "Findings," this abstract work by Karen Paquette.

The show runs through November 5, 2018. The Red House Studios & Gallery is located at 310 West State Street, Black Mountain (next to the Monte Vista Hotel) and is open from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. on weekdays and Saturday and 1 - 4 p.m. on Sunday.

The Red House Studios & Gallery is home of the Swannanoa Valley Fine Arts League.

Since its opening, membership has grown to over 100 members. The SVFAL provides many opportunities for its members to display their work by hosting bi-monthly art shows throughout the year.

In addition to gallery space, the Red House has seven studios with 12 participating artists. Studio artists will open their studios during the reception. For more information on the league visit www.svfalarts.org.