Munch and Learn: Chasing the Ephemeral

Chasing the Ephemeral with Mary K VanGieson, Mallory/Wurtzburger featured artist

Self-described “artist, educator, storyteller, collector, and sometime writer” Mary K VanGieson creates prints, sculptures, and installations using alternative materials such as coffee filters and foraged plants as ways to investigate themes including loss, erosion, and the transitory. Chasing the Ephemeral features eco prints made by layering organic materials including leaves, plants, and onion skins between sheets of plain, unmarked Stonehenge paper. Bundled tightly around a rusty can or clamped between pieces of scrap wood, the paper and plants are boiled for hours in water and vinegar, resulting in the transfer of shapes and colors derived from the vegetation to the paper. Tannin-rich foliage works best, creating natural colors that bind with and dye fibers in the paper. For this exhibition, the artist sourced plants and leaves including avocado, eucalyptus, maple, oak, redbud, rose, sumac, and willow, from her own home and yard and from the Dixon’s gardens.

Note: Wednesdays can be especially busy at Dixon’s cafe, Park & Cherry. If you’re attending Munch and Learn, please plan ahead and place your lunch orders early. To reduce disruptions during the lecture, guests are asked to bring their own food from the cafe to the auditorium. You may request to-go containers to make the trip to your seat easier. Pre-order by calling (901) 312-1277.

Munch and Learn is endowed by the Landau family in memory of Leslie Mann Landau.