ON VIEW
Earl James’ Sculptures Reflect Migrant Voyages in Pathways and Passages
On view Jan 10 - February 15, 2025
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Opening Celebration Friday, Jan 10, 2025 from 5:00 - 7:30PM
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Pathways and Passages is a poignant exhibit addressing movement, specifically the human migratory movement. Earl O. James creates boat-like mixed media sculptures amplifying a “crossing” message that explores the turbulent passage of people to an unfamiliar place. James uses multiple methods including metal welding, shaping wood, casting and carving waxes, creating molds for pouring hot metal and glass, cold-forming cement, and more. The completed works contrast antiquity with modern elements and emphasize timelessness and tenacity. By warping and manipulating materials, James’ sculptures may appear as though weathered in time. It seems as if his pieces bear their own history of endurance…much like that of the human spirit. Pathways and Passages will also showcase accompanying woodblock prints, invoking movement in an alternative dimension.
“Pathways and Passages explores the migration of people by way of commerce-based abduction, slavery, opportunity-based immigration, or conflict-based displacement. How people move has varied with time. Unfortunately, reasons like war, oppression, and want remain timeless and their voyages exist to this day. My focus in this exhibit is my impression of these ‘crossings;’ the boats, and impressions of boats, that ferried people from continent to continent
and river to sea or shore to shore.” - Earl James
About the Artist Earl O. James:
Born in Jamaica, West Indies, and raised in Rochester, New York, Earl O. James earned a BFA from The Cleveland Institute of Art in 1988 and an MFA from the State University of New York at Alfred University in 1990. He was a Studio Assistant at The Cleveland Institute of Art and has instructed several glass workshops at Penland School of Craft. He has created and worked in his Cleveland studio since 1990. He designs and makes both functional and nonfunctional blown glass objects from his molten glass furnace. Mixed media sculptural work was a major part of his artistic education and continues to be his passion and pursuit.
A Dialogue of Dreams Awaits in Nico Cacho Flores Oneiric Cartographies
On view Jan 10 - February 15, 2025
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Opening Celebration Friday, Jan 10, 2025 from 5:00 - 7:30PM​
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Explore the mysterious and ethereal intersection between the conscious and unconscious mind in Nico Cacho Flores’ immersive exhibition Oneiric Cartographies. Here dreams serve as maps, guiding onlookers through the intricacies of memory, imagination, and the subconscious. Flores combines poetic narratives with luminous installations to reveal the subtle yet powerful influence of dreams in one’s daily life. Aimed to evoke a sense of introspection, the exhibit invites visitors to reflect on their personal relationships with the world of dreams and the unseen forces that shape human existence. Oneiric Cartographies is a meditation on the symbolic power of dreams, interpreted as a dialogue between inner landscapes and collective consciousness.
“My process is anchored in creative writing, which guides the interpretation of these experiences and transforms them into visual form. Each piece serves as an invitation to rediscover spirituality, both on a personal and collective level, through an artistic language that connects the real and the imagined.” - Nico Cacho Flores
About the Artist Nico Cacho Flores:
Nico Cacho Flores is a Puerto Rican artist whose work bridges visual and literary arts to explore themes of self-reflection, dreams, and the connection between inner and outer worlds. She earned a BFA in Painting from the School of Fine Arts and Design of San Juan and an MA in Modern and Contemporary Art History from Azusa Pacific University. Flores’ recent work centers on dreamscapes, capturing the symbolic nature of the subconscious through luminous installations and poetic narratives. Her practice invites viewers to contemplate the unseen forces shaping their inner landscapes. In addition to exhibiting her work in collective exhibitions, Flores has extensive experience engaging communities through teaching and creative workshops. She currently lives in Kent, OH, where she continues to develop her artistic work.
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