Feb. 8-May 16
Opening reception: Feb. 14 • 5:30 p.m.

By Holly Zemke, WVAC

Creative Habitats, a new exhibition at Waterworks Visual Arts Center, opens on Feb. 8.
Meet the artists and enjoy the exhibits on Valentine’s evening Friday, Feb. 14 during the opening celebration.
The gallery is located in the East Square Cultural Arts District of historic downtown Salisbury, at 123 East Liberty St. The free event will begin at 5:30 p.m., and is open to the public. Light refreshments, beer and wine will be served. Donations are always gladly accepted.
Creative Habitats will be on view through May 16, 2020.

Three North Carolina artists will independently present natural, created, and altered habitats in their chosen media. As expected within the galleries of Waterworks, viewers will be amazed, inspired, and challenged by the works in this spring exhibition.

Last Seen, by artist-photographer Lorraine Turi, is a collection of her photographs taken in the last known locations inhabited by now-extinct species. Leading up to her photo documentation , Lorraine performed exhaustive research, creating lists of extinct beings, even retracing the footsteps of explorers who witnessed and documented the decline and destruction of particular species. The images in Last Seen serve as a memorial for, and make a visceral connection between, the lost species and humanity.
Lorraine holds a master of fine art degree, has exhibited and lectured extensively in the Carolinas, Florida, Kentucky, New York and New Jersey, and her photographs are in corporate, public and private collections.

Alix Hitchcock’s current colorful art on paper works are one-of-a-kind gelatin monotype prints with the themes of dancers, acrobats, birds, sea animals, dragonflies, herons, foxes, and other creatures. Celebrating their relationships to their natural environment, to each other, and to humans, Alix placed her nature family in abstracted environments. Using a silhouette format, her characters appear in layers of transparency, recognizable but still ambiguous, some with an undertone of danger or anticipation. Her technique is to print on a “gelatin plate” using hand-drawn stencils with water-based printmaking inks, most with additional colored pencil. Her quest is to impart to the viewer a sense of awe in the presence of Nature, and bring the viewer into each artwork’s world of movement and mystery.
With a master of art degree in painting, Alix is an instructor of drawing and painting of figures and landscapes at North Carolina universities, colleges, museums, and design centers. Her work has been widely exhibited across North and South Carolina, and Virginia.

“I am an outsider-visionary artist of 17 years,” says Adam Wensil in describing himself. “My art has fondly been called ‘organized clutter’ in that I use ordinary objects in unexpected ways to create a new and memorable experience.” Adam works in three areas: sculpture (the human figure), wire panels, and whimsy (fun, fast, anything goes), and his exhibition, Off Kilter (specifically referring to The Gilda House creation) is comprised of all three. Gilda House has a dynamic, amazing story about five unique individuals and their loving pets who choose to share life together in the Off Kilter world of Gilda House. A Pop Art expression, with architecture and furnishings inspired by Corbusier, and rich, Raphaelite colors, Adam constructed Gilda House from items given to him by strangers and friends. It is an art piece, not a dollhouse. The official music for Gilda House is “Imagine,” by John Lennon.
Diagnosed with bi-polar disease thirty years ago, Adam says, “My artwork is all about me and my interpretation of life, including my fears and phobias…. It is my expression through art that allows me to (be in) better control (of) my life.” After 28 months of work, The Gilda House is still a work in progress. “My goal in art is always ‘completion not perfection.’” The Gilda House IS ADAM.

The art galleries at Waterworks Visual Arts Center, which is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, change three times a year (Spring, Summer, and Fall/Winter). Art classes for all ages, starting at 18 months, are also presented in three sessions. Learn more at www.waterworks.org