This April, the Asher Gallery highlights HCCC’s Artist Residency Program with two innovative Houston artists—ceramic sculptor Kelley Eggert and metalsmith Robert Thomas Mullen—in our continuing trunk-show series. Please join us for a reception/preview on Thursday, April 11th, 5 – 7 PM, and the trunk show on Saturday, April 13th, 11 AM – 4 PM, to meet with the artists and learn how they interpret different issues in their work.
Former resident artist and ceramic sculptor, Kelley Eggert, creates otherworldly sculptures that explore the collision of technology and the natural world. Dangerously seductive, these delicate pieces entice the viewer to discover for themselves how industry and nature collide. As Kelley explains, “My sculptures address biotechnology by embodying both organism and machine. Inspired formally and behaviorally by insects, the transgenic mechanical organisms are growing from rigid cubes of dirt. Although I primarily use clay, I also choose alternative materials that would be traditionally used as accessories. Upon closer inspection, it is clear to see the underlying danger of the designer organism.”
Close inspection also reveals a world behind the jewelry of current resident artist, Robert Thomas Mullen. Working with wood, metal and found objects, Robert tells a special story with each of his pieces: “My art is autobiographical, though I don’t always recognize this. It is a way for me to represent my life experience in the jewelry I create. The manifestation of memory into an object grants insight about my environment. My current work is a series based on my recent experiences in the urban cityscapes of Houston and Pittsburgh. These years are a drastic change from my youth in the bluffs of the Mississippi River Valley of Illinois.” Sharp-eyed viewers will even identify different locations referenced in the work.
Robert’s work is also on view in the Artist Hall, as part of the exhibit, Reminiscential, through May 26, 2013.
Above, from left to right: Brooch by Robert Thomas Mullen. Wood and brass. Photo by Robert Thomas Mullen. Ceramic sculpture by Kelley Eggert. Photo courtesy the artist.
