2023 Creative Entrepreneur Fellows
Welcome to our virtual exhibit.
On display at Taylor Books 8/26 – 9/31
This virtual exhibit is also on display at Taylor Books in Charleston WV from August 26th to September 31st, 2023. We highly recommend visiting this landmark Charleston business to see the work in person if you get the chance. Join us for the opening reception on Saturday August 26th at 6:00pm and spend some time with the artists. Should you be interested in purchasing any of the work on display, please contact Taylor Books at (304) 342-1461 for details.
Coming Soon: You will find photos of each piece on display below as well as a video walkthrough of the entire exhibit.
2023 Creative Entrepreneur Fellows
Anthony Peyton Young | Hannah Watters | Kylie Proudfoot-Payne
Leah Gore | Leslie Norris | Mickayla Pence
Anthony Peyton Young
Anthony Peyton Young is an artist born and raised in Charleston, WV. Working primarily in painting, drawing, ceramics, and collage, Young’s work explore methods of memorializing, healing, family traditions, black/black queer intimacy, and the spaces we use to activate these actions. He earned his B.A. from West Virginia State University and his M.F.A. from School of the Museum of Fine Arts/ Tufts University.
Available for Purchase from Taylor Books | Coming Soon
Hannah Watters
“I am a cross-disciplinary maker who combines
sculpture/installation and 2D applications of materials.
I create my work while meditating on what it would be like to be the object that I am creating; disposable, aggressively formed, and infested.
The unfamiliar, yet identifiable forms are my
interpretation of place within Appalachian communities. These artifacts depict my experience of growing up in West Virginia and the pathological and physical presence that I witnessed creeping into the lives of those forced to rely on the coal industry.”
Available for Purchase from Taylor Books | Coming Soon
Kylie Proudfoot-Payne
“Exploring the balance between the light and shadow in the natural environment has been my focus for the past twenty years. This focus and intrigue translates into a myriad of landscape paintings and correlated projects that have predominantly focused on the depiction of color and light. I then utilize acrylic paint on traditional or nontraditional surfaces, to create landscape paintings and murals as well as paintings that can be worn within an installation or performance which activates the space and engages the viewer.”
Available for Purchase from Taylor Books | Coming Soon
Leah Gore
“My work is whimsical, technically dynamic in flavor and creative direction I construct art in the form of edibles. My process involves developing menus, and recipes, sourcing ingredients, making a space workable for production, baking and assembling each piece, i.e. cakes, tarts, bread, etc., and creative expression through design and color, and food photography. My work is about a nod to the Appalachian mindset of creating from scarcity, and working with what you have where you are. It is about the interconnectedness of art and baking and how they both have taken over my life. I want to convey a rewired sense of nostalgia, innovative and creative food that isn’t often showcased in our area, materiality, and a sense of place. My DIY style and attitude are visualized through my branding and the process-driven art of constructing ephemeral pieces, which highlight color, texture, and form. I’m a believer in perfectly imperfect.”
Available for Purchase from Taylor Books | Coming Soon
Leslie Norris
“I create serigraphs in limited and open editions using water-based inks on recycled paper. These materials allow me to lessen my work’s ecological footprint while still maintaining archival quality work. My prints begin as hand-drawn images. Each color of an image is exposed to its own high-mesh screen and individually registered to print one color at a time. I use a very simple setup, which includes two hinge clamps and a board as my print station. Once I print the first color, I remove the screen and register the next. This process is repeated for each color featured in a print.
I am drawn to the images that I grew up with: toys, games, commercial packaging, and modern variations of these things. My work is at once retro and socially subversive. I am saying, “Hey, look at this! These images surround us, but we don’t notice them!” It’s as if my work comes from the leavings, the rags and bones, the detritus of a cultural parade that has just gone by. I am simply reassembling the pieces in personal and subjective ways and plastering my world with pictures.”
Available for Purchase from Taylor Books | Coming Soon
Mickayla Pence
“I make mixed media jewelry and wearable art using a varying combination of precious metals, gemstones, butterfly wings, magazine/photo clippings, feathers, and real pressed flowers – many of which I collect (while getting poison ivy) foraging deep in the woods of Greenbrier County. My process begins with raw materials and an objective. Many of the pieces I make include images, magazine clippings, and flowers. I then use my graphic design skills and programs (Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign) to edit the photo composite, print, laminate, and cut into a shape that fits aesthetically within the piece(s).”
Available for Purchase from Taylor Books | Coming Soon
Thanks
Thank you for supporting our 2020 Emerging Artist Fellowship Program.
Tremaine Foundation
BB&T | Now Truist Foundation
Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation
