Cassie Butcher and Shannon Woodford “Blooming Narrative” June Art & Light Gallery Exhibition
Opening Reception Friday, June 2 6-8PM
Event Types: Visual Arts
May 5, 2023 10:00 AM — Jul 1, 2023 4:00 PM
Time Remaining Loading countdown timer...
Event Registration
Contact Information
Bracken Sansbury
8642525858
[email protected]https://www.artandlightgallery.comhttps://www.instagram.com/artandlightgallery/Details
CONTACT INFORMATION Art & Light Gallery
Nichole Rath
864.252.5858
Blooming Narrative
Floriography illuminated through a floral clay and paint joint exhibit
GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA – Inspired by the language of flowers, also known as floriography, Cassie Butcher and Shannon Woodford explore their mediums, clay and paint, to communicate emotions, memories, and nostalgia through the use of flowers in their joint exhibition unfolding into a colorful display entitled, “Blooming Narrative.”
Asheville, NC clay sculptor, Cassie Butcher has produced a new body of work along with Waxhaw, NC painter Shannon Woodford to be featured at Art & Light Gallery in June. Their work explores the practice of using flowers to communicate, floriography, which dates back to ancient civilizations, such as the Greeks and Romans, but became popular in the Victorian era. During this period, people used flowers as a way to express their feelings and communicate with each other in a society where open communication about emotions was not common. The Victorians assigned different meanings to each flower, creating a complex system of communication through flowers. For example, red roses symbolized love and passion, while white lilies represented purity and passion.
Known for creating sculptures referred to as “souls,” these basic clay figures serve as the starting point for her work. Butcher’s souls touch on the essence of who everyone is without indicating who we are on our physical surface or who we are in our circumstances, but who we really are and how we really connect. Regarding “Blooming Narrative, she comments, “My newest soul sculptures have created a scenery where memories and stories are blooming. I have taken cues from the Victorian era’s tradition of communicating with flowers. Symbols such as daffodils for new beginnings, white roses for innocence, and ferns for enchantment all share alluring narratives. Abstracted variations of flowers, trees, and vines insinuate notions of growth, change, playfulness, and beauty.” Butcher’s use of botanical imagery continues to deepen the exploration and understanding of human relationships through this new body of work.
In her decade-spanning practice, Woodford has become a wildflower advocate, literally championing the unnoticed and unsung members of the natural landscape as a visual metaphor questioning what the culture deems worthy of attention and adulation. She gives each humble
bramble and clinging vine its own chance to shine, to fully enter the narrative of how we define beauty. “Flowers have been gifts between people since time immemorial: carrying the burden of the words we cannot say on their frail petals” reflects Woodford. To her, this exhibit “examines the evocative nature of flowers to induce core memories, to inspire both nostalgia and innovation, to hold both deeply personal and shared cultural associations, and finally to charge and change the discussion of what beauty fundamentally is, who are its gatekeepers and should they be.”
“Blooming Narrative” will be released through Art & Light Gallery at 10am EST on May 30th online or in the gallery and conclude on June 24th at 4pm EST. The exhibit can be viewed and purchases made at www.artandlightgallery.com/exhibitions.
Join Butcher and Woodford as Art & Light Gallery hosts an artist reception as part of First Fridays on June 2nd from 6-8pm EST to celebrate this new collection.
About Art & Light: Since 2007, Teresa Roche and her team have offered creative, inventive, and inspiring pieces that help collectors merge affordability with discovery by showcasing one- of-a-kind elements that tell a story! Art & Light Gallery features over 50 emerging to established local, regional, and international artists in the gallery and online. With a hand-picked collection of artists, they have just the right piece for those casually buying gift-able art, those just wading into collecting, the designers hunting the perfect piece for clients, and the seasoned art collector. www.artandlightgallery.com
About Cassie Butcher:
Cassie Butcher lives in Asheville, North Carolina and has worked in the River Arts District since 2005. A native to West Virginia and a graduate of Berea College, she was called to the mountains of western NC for their beauty and the arts community. Butcher, a clay sculptor, was introduced to NC through Penland School of Crafts and then accepted into a residency at Odyssey ClayWorks.
These days she continues to expand her "vocabulary" of the soul concept, drink amazing beer, eat delicious food, enjoy the beautiful Appalachian Mountains, hang out with her husband David and her sweet daughters, Bridget and Dottie, and pinches herself every day to see if this is real and is incredibly grateful! www.artandlightgallery.com/artist/cassie-butcher
About Shannon Woodford:
Shannon Woodford is a professional artist living in Waxhaw, North Carolina. She has always been creative and was noticed as a teenager for her exceptional decorative work and honed her skill in creating trope l’oeil and other faux finishes for interior designers. The young decorator realized her true pleasure would be found by transitioning into fine art.
Woodford studied under master painter Andy Braitman, whose Charlotte school is renowned for producing successful exhibiting artists. Braitman mentored her into her signature aesthetic: a multilayered, expressionistic, dramatic snapshot of nature. Woodford works largely in florals, using the deceptively everyday nature of her subject matter to explore the hidden depths of their unexpected appeal. She likes exploring as many mediums as possible and has worked extensively with watercolors, acrylics, and encaustics. Her current focus is in oil paint and mixed-media on canvas. She is committed to an ongoing dialogue between herself and the land of her native NC home, where she finds much of her inspiration.
Woodford is a married mother of four incandescently imaginative little girls, who do not hesitate to help her in her work when given the opportunity. They love contributing their suggestions for titles! When she is not with her husband Chris, or daughters, Laurel, Olive, Violet & Marigold, she is most likely in her home studio or immersed in her community of creatives, whom she credits with her ongoing education as an artist and a person. www.artandlightgallery.com/artist/shannon-woodford
