Goodwyn Gallery is pleased to present “Extracted,” a solo exhibition of the work of Annie B. Campbell, which will be on view January 29 through March 23, 2018. Campbell serves as an Assistant Professor of Fine Art at Auburn University and is the visiting artist for Auburn University at Montgomery’s annual Southern Studies Conference. As a component of the Southern Studies Conference program, Campbell will give an Artist Talk on Friday, February 9th at 4:45 pm in Goodwyn Hall 109, followed by a Gallery Reception at 5:45 pm.
Annie B. Campbell holds a B.F.A. in ceramics from the Department of Crafts and Material Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University and an M.F.A. in studio ceramics from Indiana University-Bloomington. Professor Campbell has held prestigious artist residencies at the Hambidge Center for Creative Arts & Sciences in Rabun Gap, GA, Studio 550 in Manchester, NH, and the Scottish Sculpture Workshop in Aberdeenshire.
Campbell’s artworks, executed primarily in various ceramic media, range from installation and freestanding pieces to wall mounted sculpture. While the format of her innovative sculptural practice ranges, her subject matter remains consistently engaged in interrogating the ways that individuals engage with, exist in, and transform the natural environment. Her current projects address the environmental effects of extraction and transportation of fossil fuels and the forestry industry, both of which are key industries for central Alabama. Due to her focus on art and the natural environment, her work is particularly relevant to contemporary regional issues and concerns, making her a perfect fit for AUM’s annual Southern Studies Conference.
Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky / We fell them down and turn them into paper / That we may record our emptiness. (Kahlil Gibran)
As Campbell explains in her artist statement: “My current portfolio encompasses two bodies of work united by a common concept. One uses maps in the form of stylized tree trunks to signify disconnection from the natural world. The other draws parallels between the human figure and tree forms. Overall, my work investigates environmental destruction and our relationship to its effects, both physical and psychological. The work exemplifies the innate connection between humans and the earth, and illustrates that we are unwittingly conducting ourselves toward our own demise. In doing so I draw a connection between the health of the environment and the health of ourselves, for we are inexorably linked.”
“Extracted” is funded, in part, by a generous grant from the Alabama State Council on the Arts.
Annie B. Campbell’s website: http://anniebcampbell.com/
Southern Studies Conference: http://www.cas.aum.edu/community-resources/southern-studies-conference
The Cason McDermott Art Gallery 