Cumberland University’s Vise Library hosts Cella Neapolitan art exhibit

Cumberland University’s Vise Library is hosting a mixed media exhibit, “Words & Pictures,” by award-winning artist Cella Neapolitan from March 1 to April 30.

A nationally recognized photographer and mixed media artist, Neapolitan combines photography, collage, and writing to create genre-defying works exploring themes ranging from the power of negative space to the hidden stories behind antique postcards.

Featuring more than 20 works of photography, collage, and mixed media, “Words & Pictures: An Exhibit in Three Parts” will include pieces from Neapolitan’s “Labyrinth,” “StoryBoard,” and “Dive-ins” series.  From Rothko-inspired photographs of horizons to collages of art fabrics, objects, and postcards, the diverse works explore the artistic synergy of text and photography in mixed media.

“A picture may not be worth a thousand words. However, each medium holds power that, when combined, sparks new circuitry,” says Neapolitan. “That’s my hope: that these Words & Pictures will ignite a new way of seeing, thinking, feeling, wondering.”

A Cookeville-based artist, Neapolitan has shown works in nearly 200 exhibits around the world. Her photographs have won awards from Canon, Kodak, and USA Today, and her “porTRAITS” series has appeared in Art-o-mat machines at institutions such as the Smithsonian and TPAC.

In 2007, the Tennessee Arts Commission named Neapolitan to the Southern Arts Federation. She was also selected as Cookeville’s Artist of the Year in 2002 and won Nashville’s Artrageous Jury Prize in 2009. Neapolitan’s work can be seen in her Cookeville gallery misCELLAnea or online at http://www.cellaneapolitan.com/.

The “Words & Pictures” exhibit is free and open to the public. Vise Library is open 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Monday-Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Friday, and 2 to 10 p.m. on Sunday. For more information, contact Vise Library at (615) 547-1299or library@cumberland.edu.

Art Exhibit in Vise Library: Ceramic Works by Chase Gamblin

Ceramic Works by Chase Gamblin

Chase Gamblin, adjunct professor in Cumberland University’s School of Music and the Arts, works primarily with wheel thrown parts, which he then assembles into vessel forms. He uses the wood firing process not only as a means to create surface variation on his works, but also for its ritualistic characteristics. Dualities occur though out the works. His pieces are whimsical and elegant yet hard and course: they have small and large proportions, and are both masculine and feminine. “I use the thrown vessel because I feel that everyone can relate to it in some way. Whether is be a ceramic mug to drink the morning coffee or an urn that holds the ashes of a loved one, clay is a part of everyone’s experience.

Gamblin started ceramics in southern Illinois in 2001. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in ceramics at the Appalachian Center for Craft in Smithville, TN in 2007. He then studied and received his Masters of Fine Arts in ceramics at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX. During his MFA studies, Gamblin traveled overseas for residencies, the first in Vicchio, Italy in 2008 and the second in Sanbao, China in 2009. After graduating from Texas Tech University, Gamblin worked a yearlong residency at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks where he also served as an adjunct professor, teaching ceramic courses.