Townsend Atelier is pleased to announce "Abiding in the Moment" , a two-person exhibition featuring new works by Chattanooga artists, Robin MacKillop and Maria Willison.
MacKillop will have new paintings and drawings and Willison will have drawings and sculptures.
"When we looked at our bodies of work, we realized that although we chose different mediums and subject matter, we are contemplative in our processes as artists. We have a desire to create from a place of dwelling and being present," MacKillop and Willison explain.
Chattanooga-based figurative sculptor, Maria Willison, enjoys creating work in the round and in relief with water and oil-based clays. She found her true love of art while attending Covenant College for her bachelor’s degree (class of 2010). Maria has won several awards in competitions throughout the country and has shown her work at various locations around the region.
Also in 2016, and again in 2022, Maria was one of ten competitors selected to compete in the National Sculpture Society’s McDermott Miller Modeling Competition. When Maria is not creating her own work, she creates molds and cast for other artists, she is a board member at Chattanooga’s Association for Visual Arts (AVA), and she teaches sculpture workshops at Townsend Atelier.
Willison explores themes of dichotomies, mainly the pull between the polar opposites in our natures and how to sit with and not shy away from what is conscious. Whether a representation of inequality, spirituality, personal struggle, or simply something winsome, each piece carries with it Willison's love of the human form and the beauty that it entails.
Robin MacKillop is an artist who explores themes of stillness, quiet, and the richness and simplicity of life in her realistic paintings. With a love of dramatic lighting and moody atmospheres, Robin creates detailed portraits of her subjects caught in moments of concentration or reflection. She enjoys making paintings indirectly in many layers as well as painting from life in single sessions, finding that each style informs and improves the other. Her biggest inspiration for her work is her daughter, who's constant exploration provides many opportunities to capture beautiful, universal, and fleeting moments of life.
MacKillop has always been sensitive to beauty around her, often being the one to stop and point out whatever was jumping out at her. It was natural for her to find still moments with her daughter and want to stop them, bring attention to them, and highlight their simplicity and beauty.
Whether it's her daughter trying on a grown-up necklace or discovering that her daughter's toys seem to have a friendship and may be going on some sort of journey, she explores being present, imaginative, and focused in moments that would easily slide by in the movements of the day.
- Abiding in the Moment Opening Reception
- Friday, February 3, 5:30-9 pm
- Open to the public free of charge
- Townsend Atelier, The Arts Building, 301 E 11th Street, Chattanooga, TN
Works available for purchase online and in person. Works will be on view through February weekdays 10-5 pm or by appointment