Stanback Gallery Hall and Y P G Gallery: ELAINE FLECK, Interwoven mixed media paintings

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Benedict Collin Conley
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1 The Threads of Time, Waterworks Visual Arts Center s fall exhibition, September 8, 2018-February 2, 2019, features three solo artists who use a variety of media to weave together the fabric of our history, culture and personal relationships. BedNotes, a new collection of contemporary textile and mixed media works by Stephanie J. Woods, analyzes concepts of the African American family viewed through and inspired by family photographs. The Mill Kids by Barry L. Moore illustrates the lives that were impacted by the textile industry and the child labor laws of the era. Elaine Fleck s Interwoven brings together her love of textiles and painting to create images of strength and complexity in her nature-inspired paintings on fabric. Osborne and Woodson Galleries: STEPHANIE J. WOODS, BedNotes textiles and mixed media Stephanie Woods askes the question What are the ways we mask and transform our identities before entering the world each day? and she explores the answer to that question through her work. With the exhibition BedNotes, she explores the concept of identity and family within the African American culture. My artwork is dictated by my environment. It conforms to the space I am working in and the materials I am able to find or purchase around me. Woods has created a site-specific installation as part of her new exhibition at Waterworks. Norvell Gallery BARRY L. MOORE, The Mill Kids digitally modified canvas photographs Digital artist Barry L. Moore first saw the mill kid images by photo-grapher Lewis Wickes Hine, he was stricken by the fact that his life and security may be directly or indirectly due to child labor. Moore is himself a retired mill worker. Intrigued by Hine s photos he enhances the children s presence by adding sepia tones or color to make them POP from the canvas. Moore s goal is to present Hine s images in the way I imagine he would have presented them had he had the tools we have today. Stanback Gallery Hall and Y P G Gallery: ELAINE FLECK, Interwoven mixed media paintings Textures are what excite me; the woven or hand knit texture of fabrics and the rich tapestry of nature. Years ago I created a way to merge my love of textile art and painting explains Fleck. The images I create are intricate designs where I weave together insects, flowers, vines, and leaves through the use of printed fabric and paint. My paintings emphasize the natural world that we as humans exist within.

2 Stephanie J. Woods BedNotes STEPHANIE J. WOODS most recent series titled BedNotes is inspired by family photos taken by her mother during the 1990s as well as sitcoms aired before and during the 1990s that depicted notions of the black family in America. Her intent for this work is to engage the concept of identity and the idea of family in African American culture. Through the use of upholstery, sculptural assemblage, video, and audio; BedNotes aims to translate the language of photography into stylized depictions of an endless family history. Conveying individual identity through unalterable physical features, memories, characteristics, and emotions that suggest dream-like narratives, psychological dimensions, and diminished reality. Woods is a 2015 MFA Graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and currently, teaches at VCU Arts located in Richmond VA. In 2016 she attended Ox-Bow school of art and Artists residency and was selected as a North Carolina Arts Council and South Arts fellowship recipient. Woods is interested in the border between public and private spaces. Ms. Woods work is rooted in black American culture. She urges us to think about the gender roles, racial codes and notions of family we accept as normal. It is shaped by her environment, the places where she works and the materials she that surround her. The artist uses a variety of media, sculpture, photography and video to unpack these concepts. Although her work is rooted in black culture the questions she asks are global.

3 Elaine Fleck The Flute Player Fabric texture whether woven or hand knit and the rich tapestry of nature excite artist Elaine Fleck. Years ago she developed an approach to creating work that merges her love of textile art and painting. Flecks intricately designed images weave together insects, flowers, vines, and leaves with printed fabric and paint. Viewing her work is like walking through a summer garden awash in the colors of vegetables and flowers alive with the movement of nature. Her paintings emphasize the natural world and our place as humans living in it. Through the years Fleck searched for a medium that would satisfy her interest in patterns. Gradually she developed a technique of applying fabric directly to canvas to create rich textured compositional surfaces. Fleck creates her paintings by covering patterned fabric pieces with an acrylic matte medium. She carefully arranges the pieces onto canvas then paints over them with translucent oils. Fleck chooses fabrics of various colors and allows the dyes of the material to be seen through the paint. My inspiration comes from the intricate patterns in nature, whether they are from the texture of a reptile s skin, the markings in a sea shell or the multi-colored fish feeding off a coral reef. I m drawn to the rich patterns of Gustav Klimt and the textiles and mosaics of contemporary designer Kaffe Fassett. Artists such as Faith Ringgold, Miriam Shapiro and Judy Chicago have helped to give me license to use fabric in my work.

4 Barry L. Moore The Mill Kids BARRY L. MOORE was retired and living a nice life as a retired textile worker when he first saw an image of a Mill Kid by Lewis Wickes Hine. Mill Kids were children who worked in factories and mills. In the early 1900 s Mr. Hine was hired by The National Child Labor Committee to photograph the harsh conditions of children working in factories. Moore, overwhelmed by the fact that his life and security may be directly or indirectly due to child labor, became a huge fan of Lewis Wickes Hine s photography. After the Civil War Southern states struggled to recover economically. Many Northern communities moved their factories south to North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. The mills were built in North Carolina's Piedmont region for several reasons. First, there was a plentiful source of labor. Another reason was the region s many rivers and tributaries which provided a cheap energy source to power the mills. And finally mills were moved to be closer to the raw cotton materials needed to make their products. At the turn of the twentieth century a new political era dawned in America as concerned citizens organized reform movements to focus their attention on taking better care of people. One of these movements was The National Child Labor Committee (NCLC). NCLC was organized in 1904 by men and women concerned about the plight of working children. The first item on their agenda was to hire former school teacher and photographer Lewis Hine to document the plight of working children. Mr. Hine traveled throughout the Southeast interviewing children and photographing their working conditions. NCLC published Hine s photographs from s. By allowing the photographs to go public, NCLC gained the support needed to lobby Congress for tougher child protection laws. NCLC committees worked to pass legislation which banned most forms of child labor, and promoted compulsory education in all states. Most of the pieces in the exhibit are from The Lewis Wickes Hine collection at The Library of Congress. Some of the images Moore obtained from the Kannapolis History Associates image library. He manipulate the original images to single out the children to make them the focal point of the image. The children get the spotlight they deserve. Moore digitally scans and uploads the images then uses a separate color to highlight the kids and separate them from the background. He wants them to POP out of the canvas. The artist darkens the background, makes it monochrome and adds grain texture to give it contrast to the kids. He cleans up any damage on the mill kids layer, sometimes colorizes them, then prints the image on canvas. Moore wanted to present Hine s images in the way he imagined the photographer might have presented them if he had the tools we have today. Each of the images from Lewis Wickes Hines will have a corresponding info sheet which includes Hine s notes on the image and any quotes from the subject.

camera as a tool for social reform. His photographs were instrumental in changing child labor laws in the U.S. Hine was born in Oshkosh Wisconsin on September 26, 1874.

5 Lewis Wickes Hine "There is work that profits children, and there is work that brings profit only to employers. The object of employing children is not to train them, but to get high profits from their work -- Lewis Wickes Hine, 1908 LEWIS WICKES HINE was an American sociologist and photographer who used his camera as a tool for social reform. His photographs were instrumental in changing child labor laws in the U.S. Hine was born in Oshkosh Wisconsin on September 26, After his father was killed in an accident, Hine began working to save money for college. He studied sociology at the University of Chicago, Columbia University and New York University. He became a teacher in New York City at the Ethical Culture School, and encouraged his students to use photography as an educational medium. Hine took his sociology classes to Ellis Island in New York Harbor to photograph the thousands of immigrants arriving daily. Between 1904 and 1909, Hine took over 200 photographs and came to the realized that documentary photography could be a useful tool for social reform. In 1908 Hine became the photographer for the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC) to focus attention on the use of child labor in the Carolina Piedmont and to aid the NCLC's lobbying efforts to end the practice of using child laborers. Hine's work for the NCLC was often dangerous. As a photographer, he was frequently threatened with violence or even death by factory police and foremen. At the time, the immorality of child labor was meant to be hidden from the public. Photography was prohibited because it was a potential threat to the industry. To enter the mills, mines and factories, Hine was forced to assume various disguises. At times he was a fire inspector, postcard vendor, bible salesman, or even an industrial photographer making a record of factory machinery. Through his exercise of free speech and freedom of the press, Lewis Hine made a difference in the lives of American workers and, most importantly, American children.

Lewis Hind Vs. Jacob Riis

Lewis Hind Vs. Jacob Riis Lewis Hind 1874 1940, used photography as a tool to achieve social reform. He became a teacher in New York City at the Ethical Culture School, where he encouraged his students