“Alternate Realities” Exhibit at Emporium Center

Posted on Friday, December 21, 2012 at 2:01 pm

Arts & Culture Alliance Presents “Alternate Realities” by Geri Forkner and Elizabeth Porter

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present a new exhibition of woven mixed media works and drawings and paintings by artists Geri Forkner and Elizabeth Porter entitled “Alternate Realities”. Geri Forkner creates alternate realities by collecting various papers, cutting or tearing and then reweaving these papers into themselves, and Liz Porter draws and paints human figures that have electrical components showing our dependency upon technology and external power sources.

The exhibition will be displayed at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from January 4-25, 2012, and an opening reception will take place as part of First Friday activities on January 4 from 5:00-9:00 PM.

Geri Forkner is a weaver and felt maker who enjoys saving materials from the global scrap heap. Like many women in her generation, her grandmother taught the girls in her family the “usual” fiber processes. Many years of raising children, teaching, and making “one of everything” have given Forkner the expertise to make beautiful things. She also now has the confidence to comment on social issues using skills polished along the way. Geri creates felted and woven works of art from her studio in Sweetwater. She regularly teaches fiber arts classes regionally, nationally, and internationally to both children and adults. A member of the Southern Highland Craft Guild, Geri cherishes the old traditions and skills while using fibers in innovative ways to push the boundaries of weaving. For more information on Geri Forkner, visit www.weavingschool.wordpress.com or www.weavingschool.com.

“Rock City” (mixed media) by Geri Forkner

Elizabeth Porter has a BFA in mixed media from the University of North Carolina – Asheville and is currently working on a graduate degree in social work. She is a native of Knoxville and regularly participates in both local and national art shows. Current work ranges from mixed media collages to pen and ink drawings but always revolves around the theme of personal identity and conformity in Western consumer cultures. “My work strives to illustrate a connection between the anxieties and frustrations of modern American life and the technologies that we, as a civilization, have come to rely on for our survival,” says Porter. “My work contrasts the struggle between the projected desires of mass- marketed culture and our basic human wants and needs.” For more information on Elizabeth Porter, please visit http://www.elizabeth-porter.com.

“Blind Ambition” (acrylic) by Elizabeth Porter

“Alternate Realities” will be on display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, from January 4-25, 2013. An opening reception will take place as part of First Friday activities on January 4 from 5:00-9:00 PM with complimentary hors d’oeuvres. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM with additional hours on Saturday, January 5, from 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM. For more information, please contact the Arts & Culture Alliance at (865) 523-7543 or visit www.knoxalliance.com.

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