College of The Albemarle’s March art exhibition highlights ‘Art From the Earth’

Published 9:41 pm Wednesday, March 22, 2023

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College of The Albemarle (COA) has announced “Art From the Earth,” an exhibition of works in ceramics and metals by Mikayla Dennison, Addison de Lisle, Chrystal O’Boyle and Ashley Paskov. Living and working in Tyrrell County, two metalsmiths and two ceramics artists combine their passions for naturally occurring materials and present each of their signature works in this month’s exhibition.

“Art From the Earth” is open now through March 30, 2023 in the Professional Arts Building at COA – Dare. The gallery is on the second floor of the Professional Arts Building at COA – Dare, located at 205 Highway 64 S. in Manteo. The public is welcome to visit the gallery Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The closing reception for the artists will be held on Friday, March 24 from 5 to 7 p.m. at COA – Dare.

Mikayla Dennison earned her bachelor of fine arts in metalsmithing and jewelry from Maine College of Art in 2020. Dennison also earned a bachelor of arts in expressive arts from Burlington College in 2016, where she studied psychology, art therapy and studio arts. While there, she focused on multimedia sculptural paintings and her fascinations in child development and human behavior. Now, making metal objects that facilitate unconventional human interaction, Dennison is dedicated to an “expressive craft” practice that highlights aspects of identity and the human experience.

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Addison de Lisle holds a bachelor of fine arts in metalsmithing and jewelry from the Maine College of Art, and a master of fine arts in blacksmithing and metalsmithing from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He apprenticed at Wilson Forge on Little Deer Isle, Maine, was awarded a year-long fellowship in architectural ironwork at the Fondation de Coubertin in France, and has attended numerous workshops, conferences and residencies at craft centers around the country.

De Lisle taught as a professor of blacksmithing at the American College of the Building Arts from 2018-2021, where he contributed to major redesign and renovation of the blacksmithing facilities and developed courses for ferrous and non-ferrous metalworking and ironwork design. He has taught at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Haystack Mountain School of Craft, Touchstone Center for Crafts, Appalachian Center for Craft, John C. Campbell Folk School and the Center for Metal Arts, and exhibits his work nationally and internationally. Currently, he works as programs director at Pocosin Art School of Fine Craft in Columbia.

Chrystal O’Boyle has had a lifelong love of the arts. Born and raised in Fayetteville, Arkansas, O’Boyle attended the School of Art at the University of Arkansas and graduated with her bachelor’s degree in art education. In 2018 she became a teaching artist at the Community Creative Center, instructing classes in ceramics, painting and glass fusing. She completed her post-baccalaureate in 2023 at the University of Oklahoma studying ceramics. While in Oklahoma she also worked as a studio school instructor at Oklahoma Contemporary. Currently, she is an emerging artist in residence at Pocosin Arts School of Fine Craft. When she isn’t in the studio, she enjoys reading, hiking and spending time with friends and family.

Ashley Paskov is a ceramics artist living and working in Columbia. She began taking ceramic classes at Connecticut State University and where she received her bachelor of arts in ceramics in 2015. She received her master of fine arts from Edinboro University in 2022. She recently began her work as an adjunct professor at College of The Albemarle and ceramic studio coordinator at the Pocosin Arts School of Fine Craft, where she helps to introduce art to the surrounding communities and virtually through online classes across the country. She uses nature and progression as inspiration.

Paskov’s work focuses on defense mechanisms in botanical organisms, emphasizing the physical and inchmeal process of growth and healing using large-scale proportion, stamped and carved textures, and waxy matte surfaces.

For information, contact Tammy W. Sawyer, COA director of communications and marketing, at tammy_sawyer32@albemarle.edu or 252-335-0821 ext. 2420.

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