Sticks and Stones

A new group exhibit by Meg Hogan Campbell, Hannah March Sanders and Blake Sanders from June 7-28. Meet the artists at opening reception on First Friday at Macon Arts Gallery from 5-8 pm with light refreshments.

Join Macon Arts Alliance for the opening reception for Sticks and Stones, a new exhibit by artists, Meg Hogan Campbell, Hannah March Sanders, and Blake Sanders on display June 7-28. Meet the artists on First Friday from 5-8 pm with light refreshments. The event is free and open to the public and sponsored by Vein Specialists of the South, Spa Medical and Rosenberg Financial.

Artist Statement: Meg Hogan Campbell
My work is connected to my mother and her artwork, home design, her generally open-minded creative outlook as well as her generous love. I feel connected to Hannah and Blake’s work in the same way. I am nourished and inspired by them. Hannah is a third generation artist. Otherwise, I am floundering in the dark artistically and “life-istcally”… and that’s good. Mistakes and mis-starts have made me who I am. I continue to try to make unique, new art and, as I age more old and crusty, I have always learned life by making art. I am an English major and English Literature fanatic and that adds another dimension I hope. Nature calls as well. I have a love for the earth that stems from a grandfather and a dad who hunted and fished just so they could be in the woods. Therein lies the theme of most of my art.

Artist Statement: Hannah March Sanders
Miscommunication and intentional obfuscation of reality lead to a misunderstanding of the world around us. Through analyzing our use of fossil fuels in large scale collaborative installations, investigating domesticity and the female body in drawing and print, and executing painstakingly quilted asides about clickbait articles, a dark sense of humor emerges. I enjoy the contrast of labored, repetitive processes such as hand quilting and crochet with the immediacy of the human desire for convenience in travel, information, and entertainment. Drawing is at the core of my artistic practice. Combined with appliqué and quilting techniques, the multiple possibilities of the print allow for endless creation, destruction, and reconfiguration, providing flexibility in the arrangement of forms and compositions. Any scraps from my process are repurposed into my “Foot prints,” crocheted low-relief sculptures that embody the form of clouds/spills/storms, leaving little to no waste behind. Minimizing waste is essential to my work conceptually, as it combines an exploration feminist and family body politics with an investigation into environmental and social catastrophes.

Artist Statement: Blake Sanders
I make prints to connect with a broad audience in a fashion that is both mediated and personal. The privilege of the multiple allows work to be seen by viewers in a variety of spaces and circumstances simultaneously, but the evidence of the artist’s hand bridges that perceived distance. The attention to detail, the respect for craft, the collaborative and interactive nature of the medium attracts people to my work who would not typically engage with contemporary art. Contemporary theory and techniques are incorporated with established printmaking processes in my practice to create work that is at once linked with the present and the past. In this way, my creative work parallels my interest in evolution and natural history. Compositions and motifs occasionally nod toward art historical precedents, while loud colors, and new-fangled techniques place the work firmly in the contemporary milieu. Relief printing on alternative upcycled substrates, lithography using more sustainable materials, and digitally informed execution in a variety of media are but a few generations in my own recent evolution.

BIO
Meg Hogan Campbell attended the University of Georgia, Wesleyan College, and Mercer University and obtained a bachelor’s’ degrees in both Art and English. She has been an educator and ceramicist in Georgia for nearly 40 years now, teaching English, Elementary Art and Ceramics in Macon.

Hannah March Sanders received her BFA at Tulane University and an MFA in printmaking from Louisiana State University. Along with her husband, Blake, Hannah operates http://orangebarrelindustries.com, an artist collaborative that organizes portfolio exchanges, exhibitions and other events. Hannah’s work has also been exhibited at Gabazo Contemporary Graphic Workshop in Mexico City, Mexico; SGCI in Las Vegas, NV; the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library in Indianapolis, IN; the St. Louis Artists’ Guild; and at Utah State University in Logan, UT, to name a few. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Art at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, where she teaches printmaking, fiber art, and drawing.

Blake Sanders earned his BFA from the University of Northern Iowa and an MFA from Tulane University. He has taught art and printmaking at universities, as well as workshops at colleges and community-based art organizations around the country. Blake is currently an instructor at Southeast Missouri State University. Sanders’ work has been part of over one hundred national and international shows. Recent juried exhibitions include the 3rd Global Print 2017 in Douro, Portugal; neo:print prize 2016 in Bolton, UK; the 35th Bradley International Print and Drawing Exhibition; the 25th Parkside National Small Print Exhibition; and the 2017 Delta National Small Prints Exhibition.