Park Circle Gallery to Exhibit Works by Emily Wilson and Jennifer York

Accept the Help That is Reaching Out For You by Emily Wilson

Press Release

The City of North Charleston’s Cultural Arts Department is pleased to announce that concurrent solo exhibitions of soft pastel drawings by Emily Wilson (Summerville) and papercut artworks by Jennifer York (Charleston) will be on display at Park Circle Gallery from April 5-29, 2023. A free reception hosted by the artists will be held at the gallery on Friday, April 7, from 5:00-7:00pm. The public is invited to attend.  

Stare Awhile – Soft Pastel Drawings by Emily Wilson

Drawn from photographs, Emily Wilson’s soft pastel and charcoal works focus on realism, while occasionally crossing the line into surrealism. Intrigued by the emotional expressions of those around her, the pieces featured in her exhibit, Stare Awhile, explore varied states of mind. Through color, proportion, balance, and movement, Wilson invites the viewer to navigate moments portrayed on paper, while pausing and finding those moments in their own perception. “Light is essential to my work and symbolically in my life,” Wilson explains. “I draw the light around people and how it shines on them as a reminder that it is a part of them.” This exhibition is funded in part by a generous award from the John and Susan Bennett Memorial Arts Fund of The Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina, as well as a grant from the South Carolina Arts Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Emily Wilson received her BFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2018, where she discovered her love for charcoal and soft pastels. While heavily influenced by figurative realism, her style is unique in its focus on contrast. Studying light’s intimate relationship with shadow brings her joy as an artist, a feeling that shines through in her work. Although Stare Awhile is Wilson’s first solo exhibition, she has participated in group shows at Public Works Arts Center, The Gap Gallery, and the Savannah College of Art & Design, and has completed many commissions. She currently works from her studio at Public Works Art Center in downtown Summerville, SC. Learn more about the artist at emilywilsonstudio.com.

Aeos Carnival by Jennifer York

Homeward – Papercut Artwork by Jennifer York

In her exhibit, Homeward, Charleston artist Jennifer York presents a broad and lively collection of her stunningly intricate papercut art. Featured works include “Carousel Books” encasing collapsible multilayered ink illustrations, her “Shadow Houses” architectural models hand cut on the streets of Bulgaria, Finland, and Greece, her “Paradise Garden” large-scale paper snowflake cut from tyvek housewrap, and her “Cocktail Dress” made of hundreds of drink umbrellas, along with an array of framed papercuts and pen illustrations inspired by her adventures. “Exploration leads to inspiration, so I wander and draw from direct observation,” Jen explains. “The imagery I collect is then arranged into evocative, though-provoking new compositions by layering ink illustrations with intricate papercut patterns. I continue to explore and create new histories in this magical world.”

Jennifer York (née Swearington) is a lifelong artist and curious explorer. She grew up in rural Indiana, earned a BFA in Sculpture with Art History minor from Pratt Institute, and an MFA in Fibers from Savannah College of Art and Design. In 2003, she founded Jennythreads Studio in Asheville, NC, producing fine handmade apparel for stylish women, crafting an independent, creative living for 19 years. After traveling to a dozen countries for four month-long international art residencies in 2018-19, Jen relocated to Charleston, SC, in 2020. She retired from Jennythreads and shifted her creative focus to fine art full-time shortly thereafter. Since then she has been a Gibbes Museum of Art Visiting Artist and has exhibited at the Gibbes Museum (Charleston, SC), Artfields (Lake City, SC), the Annual National Outdoor Sculpture Competition & Exhibition (North Charleston, SC), and the Burroughs-Chapin Art Museum (Myrtle Beach, SC ). Learn more about the artist at jennythreads.com.

The Park Circle Gallery is located at 4820 Jenkins Avenue in North Charleston. Admission is free and free street parking is available on Jenkins Avenue in front of the gallery, as well as on the adjacent streets and in parking lots close by. Gallery hours are 11:00am-6:00pm Wednesday-Friday, and Noon-4:00pm on Saturday. For more information about PCG, call 843-637-3565 or email culturalarts@northcharleston.org. For information on other Cultural Arts programs and artist opportunities, visit the Arts & Culture section of the City’s website at www.northcharleston.org.

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