Riverviews began its 2010 exhibition schedule with four contemporary sculptors, Melody Gulick, Sarah Mizer, Jeff Vick, and Stephanie Williams, who are carving out a name for themselves in Virginia and beyond.  Showing a variety of stylistic approaches and media, these four artists exemplify some of the current trends in sculpture.  All four reside in Virginia, but exhibit their work throughout the US and abroad.     

A graduate of the Art Institute of Chicago and winner of a 2007 VMFA Mixed-Media Fellowship, Melody Gulick finds inspiration in everyday materials.  Her creations are the product of countless hours spent layering and transforming common materials such as newspaper.

Sarah Mizer completed her BFA from Alfred University and her MFA from VCU and has spent the past several years working as a glass and installation artist in Richmond.  Her work has been displayed throughout the US and is included in several corporate and private collections. Her glass installations utilize “translucency, subtlety, and serene quiet” to encourage the viewer to slow down and closely examine the rich layering of the work.  The installations reference root systems and the artists own personal history.

Jeff Vick, a professor of ceramics at VCU, creates work based on his memories of the natural world. He explains, “As I began work on this series, I reflected more and more on my affinity for the natural world and where that admiration germinated.  I remember clearly moments from my past when my mother, a biologist, would come to my grade school and show the class single cell animals through a microscope.  In addition, studying the collection of fossils that my grandfather kept in a glass cabinet always left me with a sense of fascination and curiosity.  As my interest grew, I researched microscopic images of seeds, pollen, and insects while also collecting actual seeds, leaves, shells, and fossils. I hope that viewers can imagine a story based on the work, but I also want the pieces to be appreciated for their workmanship and pure form.’

Stephanie Williams completed her MFA at Rhode Island School of Design in 2007.  She is currently living and working in Alexandria, VA.  Her work, created from wood, paint, ceramics, and found objects protrude from walls and floors, coming to life in the space. In her own words, the work “documents the spaces in between; the gaps between reality and one’s own interpretations of that reality.  I am interested in the myths that arise out of misinterpretations.  I am interested in the things people make up in order to understand the world, the stutter between thinking and knowing.  My works are portraits of these misunderstandings. Given a body, these myths take on a life and can be reinterpreted.”