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Mitchell High School 2020 Exhibition

An exhibition of works by Mitchell High School Students during the 2019-2020 school year

This marks the third year Toe River Arts has sponsored the Mitchell High School art students with an exhibition in the upstairs Owen gallery in Spruce Pine. This has always been an opportunity to showcase the young talent and hard work of our young people. At this point it is needless to say that things are anything but normal. That being said, normal is not what we should be aiming for, and that is evident as young people are leading the way in so many needed changes in this moment in history. A few of these pieces reflect on students’ experience navigating the post-COVID-19 world.

Our show this year will only be virtual. Our exhibition plans were interrupted, and the students will not be able to have one-on-one conversations with the guests that usually attend this show during the opening of the Toe River Arts Spring Studio Tour Exhibition. The feedback in the past has been critical for their understanding of what their art can communicate. For this reason, I ask that you view the work with thought and intention to help these students internalize that their voices are important and respected. If you have comments for these students, email me at mcadell@mhslive.net and I will forward them your thoughts and your support. As always, thank you for the way you support our youth in this community.

Sincerely,

Melisa Cadell

 

Amelia Young
Ceramic & Mixed Media

For my fear doll, I didn’t know what to do in the beginning. Once I started the doll I began thinking about what I was afraid of and I am afraid that one day the sun will come out but it won’t be shining. Then the moon would have to light the earth but not as bright as the sun would be. I’m also afraid of being alone in a place that I’ve never been before where I don’t have any family or friends to call if something bad happens. Also I’ve never seen the beach or an ocean, I’m afraid of drowning or something grabbing me and no one is around to help me get back to the surface. One of the scarier fears is leaving my family and friends to go to college either at a college near Charlotte or in West Virginia at a college near my Aunt’s house. 

 

Amelia Young
Ceramic, wood, mixed media
8″ x 8″

I wanted the face to be almost split to where it showed the outside to the inside of how I feel. The inside is how I would want to express myself but don’t on the outside. The sunset background is representing my anger from going from calm to getting extremely mad at others but I never really yell or express how I am feeling. The mouth is what I would be doing if only I would do it on the outside. The speaker is how I drown out everyone around me, by listening to music. The sunflowers are one of my favorite flowers, so I wanted to add them to the inside of how I feel at peace or I am just very calm and mellow.

 

Amelia Young 
Mixed Media

Alma Ramierez-Velazquez
Ceramic Vase

Autumn Vaughn
Embroidery & Indigo Dye

Elizabeth Robinson
“Picture Day”
Ceramic & Mixed Media

When looking at a picture of yourself, do you only see your outer appearance or your actual self? I made this seem as if the viewer were looking at a picture day image of me, only this is what I see. This is the version of me that isn’t seen on the exterior but is only hiding beneath. This is to show that you can make your inner experience known. The dreams that are housed where your brain lies, the parts of you that are starting to fade off, the innocence that will forever be there no matter how much it gets tainted, or even the beauty that everyone soul has. 

 

Kari Grindstaff
Oil on Canvas

Kaylan Stanberry
“ECO”
Wood & Mixed Media

Evelyn Kline
Cotton, Wool, Indigo, Rust

Kirsten van Brederode
Mixed Media Box

For my Joseph Cornell box I decided to display images of travel throughout my box. At the beginning I didn’t really know where my box was going. I found many little things I liked and thought I might want to put things  in my box. In the bottom part of my box I have small paintings of different places on the earth. Over those photos I have a transparent photo of the Roman Colosseum. I chose to do this because I have always wanted to visit Rome. In the top part of my box I have a vintage looking photo of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. I put this in my box because I also really want to travel to Italy. Next to the image of the Leaning Tower of Pisa I have vintage buttons. I added these because it made the whole box look more aesthetically vintage. My moving object was little wooden blocks with letters printed on them. The letters have no significance. In the end I found out my box is about traveling because one day I want to travel the world. 

 

Kirsten van Brederode
“Looking Sharp”
Ceramic Mixed Media

For my fear doll I decided to make my doll more literal. I made it easy to see what I am afraid of. I am really afraid of weird things that most people don’t fear strongly. One of my top fears is elevators. I am not really afraid of the actual elevator, I am more afraid of being stuck in an elevator. To show this fear in my doll I made the body an elevator. Inside the elevator are three beads that can move up and down. These beads are supposed to represent the elevator going up and down. My second fear is sharp objects. To display this fear I made one of the doll’s arms a cactus. On the cactus are sharp pieces of metal. My third and final fear on the doll is a finger. I am scared of people cracking their fingers because I think they are going to break. The finger is also pressing the button on the elevator. 

 

Lacie Hoilman
Celedon Vase

Justice Sobolefski
Copper & Glass

Madison Moore
Ceramic Vase

Johnathan O’Sheilds
Ceramic Salt Shakers & Base

Lillian Kline
“Broken Connections “
Life Casts, Felted Wool & Mixed Media
4′ x 6′

I started the idea for this piece before COVID-19 put us in lockdown. We had to find new ways to connect in a world where it was dangerous to have physical human contact with others without the risk of being exposed.

I wanted to portray how we are still divided in a world that has so much access to connect from across the world. Even so, it seems as if everyone has either picked a side or has had theirs chosen by simple things that are unchangeable. There is always a tension causing these paths to each other to be broken and therefore a lack of understanding of our peers around us. This work represents the lack of community in a world with the access to resources to connect. We have ways to organize and connect but we still continue on the toxic path of division. 

 

Lillian Kline
Cold Connect Jewelry, Brass, Copper & Kodak Film Negatives

Lillian Kline
“Untitled”
Ceramic, Life Cast Plaster & Wire

This piece is based on the idea of having to ally yourself with self. I wanted to show the face as distorted, confused and the hands pulling the string and skin away. This is all to show the thought of self dissatisfaction, but also in a way reaching back with the crossed eyes. The whole piece is a bit gloomy pulling back and forth. the difficulty of self acceptance versus the want for changing yourself to the ideas proposed by society and your mind that is sculpted by society.

 

Lillian Kline
“Untitled”
Repurposed book, mixed media, found objects, fishing line, wood, brass tubing, and transparency.

 

When I thought about the collection idea, my mind immediately brought me to a collection of baby to young adult photos of a boy which I found in an old book that was donated to my previous school’s library. I wanted a way for the viewer to see the photos as a collection in their mysterious found place. Tying the idea of the strings connecting the pages and photos while also representing the path and progression of the life of this person pictured. 

Instructions:

By pulling the strings beginning from the bottom string and progressing up the pages will turn revealing the photos.

When the strings have all been pulled to a close the book can be turned over repeated by the next person.

Laken Hughes
Ceramic, Acrylic & Wood

Laken Hughes
Nickle, Brass & Copper

Laken Hughes
Acrylic on Panel

Laken Hughes
“Joseph Cornell Box”
Mixed Media
14” X18” open

With my Joseph Cornell inspired box, I really wanted to give a feeling of an exhibit in a museum, while also retaining an encyclopedia or textbook vibe.  I started by disassembling a mechanical saber tooth tiger toy into its parts and then proceeded to drill holes into the plastic to make a space to attach stilts like you might see a dinosaur fossil held up in an exhibit. Afterward, I developed a cam system to work with the stilts that attached to the head and tail to make it interactive. Once I had finished composing the cam system box and tiger display, I found a box that was shaped in a book and found pages about saber tooth tigers on the internet to post in the box. I finished off by gluing in the cam box to the book and by adding in other elements like lights for finishing touches.

 

Ruth Hurtado
Celedon Vase

Ruth Hurtado
Ceramic & Mixed Media Mask

Shiloah Brandt
Ceramic & Mixed Media

Shiloh Brandt
Copper, Brass & Nickle

Savanah Burleson
“Senior Memories”
Acrylic on Panel
4′ x 4′

Jose Juarez
“Mac Miller, Gone Too Soon”