LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University’s Morlan Gallery will present an installation sculpture that pays homage to the wild, old growth forests on Pine Mountain from Feb. 23 to March 30.
“Lavish!: New Work by Zoé Strecker” is a long-term project by the Transylvania art professor that features community-embroidered images of natural communities and organisms in the forests on the southeastern Kentucky mountain.
Stitched by volunteer embroiderers from across the country, the printed silk organza panels hang within a circular, bent wood structure that measures 22 feet across and 10 feet high.
“Lavish” includes an active embroidery studio and a side exhibition titled “Inspired by Wild Places” by selected members of the Pine Mountain Collective: Rebecca Allan, Vallorie Henderson, Erika Strecker and Brian and Sara Turner.
Pine Mountain Collective artists participate in three-day, on-site retreats co-hosted by Strecker, Erik Reece and The Kentucky Natural Lands Trust. More than 100 artists have attended the retreats, and many have exhibited, performed and published creative work inspired by their experience of Pine Mountain.
Special events and hours
– Opening Reception for the Artists: Friday, Feb. 23, 5-7 p.m.
– Weekend Hours: Sunday, Feb. 25, 6:30 -7:30 p.m.
– Art Talk with Zoé Strecker: Thursday, March 8, 6 p.m.
– Lexington Gallery Hop: Friday, March 16, 5-8 p.m.
– Wild Things: Selected Artists from the Pine Mountain Sessions: Friday, March 23, 7-8:30 p.m., Carrick Theater, Mitchell Fine Arts Center. Kentucky musicians Daniel Martin Moore and Julia Purcell will perform original works, and poet and novelist Mary Ann Taylor-Hall will give a reading. Additionally, Rebecca Allan will give a short gallery talk in Morlan followed by a reception.
All events are free and open to the public and in Morlan Gallery on the main floor of the Mitchell Fine Arts Center unless otherwise noted. The gallery’s regular hours are noon to 5 p.m. weekdays. For more information, contact Director Andrea Fisher at 859-233-8142.
About the artists
Rebecca Allan is a New York-based visual artist known for her richly layered and chromatically nuanced abstract paintings. Exhibiting in the United States and abroad for more than 25 years, she has been represented in 40 solo and 23 group exhibitions.
Daniel Martin Moore is a musician, songwriter and producer from Hardin County, Ky., whose ninth album, “Never Look Away,” is due out later this year. Also this year, his label, OK Recordings, will release a compilation featuring dozens of musicians and writers that will benefit the Kentucky Natural Lands Trust and the Pine Mountain Settlement School.
Julia Purcell is a singer and songwriter from Louisville, Ky. For the last decade she has performed and recorded as a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist with her band, Maiden Radio.
Zoé Strecker, an associate professor of art at Transylvania, is an artist and writer with an interest in environmental issues and living sustainably.
Mary Ann Taylor-Hall is the author of two novels, “Come and Go, Molly Snow” and “At The Breakers,” and a collection of stories, “How She Knows What She Knows About Yo-Yos.” She has published three collections of poetry, most recently, “Out Of Nowhere.”