Unveiling Transformation
Pamela Wilson
August 1st - August 29th
Artist Demonstration August 3rd 11 to 2
Artist Reception August 3rd from 2 to 4
Pamela Wilson's exhibition, "Unveiling Transformation" at Frog Hollow Gallery, delves into transformation through interconnected artistic processes and the unwavering strength of community and place-based practice. Wilson will be exhibiting a series of yupo watercolor paintings, handwovens, and wood-fired ceramics that rely on landscape-embedded materials: indigo, shale, ash, granite, ochre, and pit black. Wilson's work, demonstrates a high level of craft and relies on labor-intensive traditions of handwork. Following the 2023 flooding events in her community of Barre, VT, driving water out of clay through firing and working at the pace of the natural world became intertwined with metaphors for community resilience and restoration.
Wilson's practice transcends disciplines, encompassing clay, fiber art, and the creation of natural pigments. This approach fosters a dialogue between mediums. The materials are pulled from the landscape and the color is distilled from them. Remnants from the dye processes source material for watercolors, while glaze and clay surfaces are meticulously unlocked from local stones and wood. This cyclical approach reflects the essence of creation, where remnants from one process become the seeds for the next.
Time itself becomes a collaborator in Wilson's work. As wet clay dries, the artist tends to a flourishing garden fiber garden. The wood-fired ceramics, each one unique, embody the unpredictable environment and hold the memory of the firing process. “We will never get the same result again. It is an action and materiality," says Wilson. These slow and deliberate practices echo the artist's community's remarkable ability to share knowledge, rebuild, and find beauty in the outcome.
The traditional skills employed by Wilson are a testament to shared knowledge passed down through generations. "These are craft skills that have been passed down. We are problem-solving together, being human together, communicating, multi-generationally with multigenerational knowledge," says Wilson. “These skills that we’re using now to rebuild after the flooding at scale throughout Vermont are the same skills modeled on an intimate scale within craft communities globally and across global handwork traditions.” Community is woven into the very fabric of this work, a powerful illustration of the human spirit of collaboration, skill and resource sharing, problem-solving, and enduring strength. "There are wild systems at play, and sources of resilience and endurance we’re tapping into."
Unveiling Transformation invites viewers to witness inherent
beauty and resilience, the interconnectedness of nature and
community, and the transformative power of time.
MORE ABOUT THE ARTIST
Pamela Wilson is a visual artist, working primarily in clay, fiber, and craft-based performance and community-building. She learned to make pots as a child and has maintained a studio practice that includes making, teaching, assisting elder artists, and developing community arts projects for over 20 years. She is a founder of Barre Up, the Long Term Recovery Group mobilizing community-based flood response in Barre City and on the Teaching Artist Roster for the state of VT. She studied visual art, writing, and performance at Bennington College under Barry Bartlett, Dean Snyder, Carol Diehl, and Susan Sgorbatti and has an MA in clinical mental health counseling from Goddard College. She maintains a studio at Studio Place Arts in Barre, VT.
