The City of North Charleston’s Cultural Arts Department is pleased to announce that art quilts by local artist Dr. Marlene O’Bryant-Seabrook and mixed media works by North Carolina artist Nora Phillips will be on exhibit at the North Charleston City Gallery from July 7-29, 2016. A free public reception hosted by the artists will take place at the gallery from 5:00-7:00pm on Thursday, July 7.
Parallel Thoughts/Single Minded: The Art Quilts of Marlene O’Bryant Seabrook w/ Prose by EOB3
This retrospective exhibition showcases selected quilts by nationally and internationally exhibited fiber artist, Dr. Marlene O’Bryant-Seabrook. More than a dozen quilts featuring a variety of subjects will be displayed. Each of the quilts will be accompanied by framed prose written by the artist’s son and published author, Evans O’Bryant, III (EOB3). The works were not created in collaboration, their parallel thoughts were a discovery.
Dr. Marlene O’Bryant-Seabrook, a third generation educator, holds a BS from South Carolina State College, MAT from The Citadel, and Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina. She was a classroom teacher, central staff administrator, and, in 1975, became the first African American and one of only two women on The Citadel’s permanent faculty. O’Bryant-Seabrook has no familial quilters, but took an eight week quilting class in the 1980s and began exhibiting her quilts nationally in 1992. She approaches quilting from the dual focus of an educator and an artist, often slipping “lessons” into her quilts: love of God, family, children; pride in heritage; respect for accomplishments, etc. She has lectured throughout the country and her work has appeared in numerous publications and exhibited both nationally and internationally. She was one of 44 nationally recognized fiber artists invited to create a quilt honoring President Obama for an Inaugural exhibition at the Washington Historic Society.
– Works by Nora Phillips
In Threading Color, Nora Phillips of Raleigh, NC, presents a collection of mixed media pieces that blend paint, fiber elements, and thread. Phillips has always had a passion for sewing and painting. After much experimentation, she found a way to combine these mediums while maintaining a sense of movement within her work, particularly through the use of thread. Phillips breaks away from thread’s traditional function of merely joining or tying things together, and instead uses it as a vehicle for expressing fluency. Thread flows naturally and organically in her art to create various interpretations. From a broader and more cohesive thematic perspective, this flow represents a graceful energy and freedom in creation. From a personal perspective, it connects it to her own feminine nature and personality.
Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Nora Phillips comes from a family of artists. After living and working in Argentina and Colombia, she moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in California, where she pursued her interests in contemporary quilting and textile design. In 1995, she relocated to Raleigh, NC, with a strong desire to establish her artistic career in fiber design and quilting. She began painting in 1997. During these early years she dedicated herself to learn the many techniques of fiber painting and after refining her skills began teaching quilting and fabric manipulation classes. Her works have been exhibited in several solo, group, and juried shows at venues such as the North Carolina Museum of Art, the City of Raleigh Museum, and the Greenville Museum of Art, as well as in galleries in the Triangle Area (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Cary) in North Carolina and in private art collections throughout the country. Learn more about the artist at noraphillipsart.com.
The North Charleston City Gallery is situated in the common areas of the Charleston Area Convention Center, located at 5001 Coliseum Drive in North Charleston. Parking and admission are free during regular Convention Center operating hours, 9:00am – 5:00pm daily. Inquiries regarding the artists or purchase information may be directed to the North Charleston Cultural Arts Department at (843)740-5854. For information on additional exhibits, programs, and events, visit the Arts & Culture section of the City’s website.