Fire and Flame: Elizabeth Brim and Shane Fero
Curator's Statement
Fire & Flame brings together the work of two artists whose extraordinary creations in glass and steel are highly celebrated in the field. Elizabeth Brim and Shane Fero have strong connections to the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina. As residents of the area, they are important members of that creative community.
Using a torch to beautiful effect, Fero melts and shapes glass rods creating delicate birds in an array of colors and patterns. Partly imagined, and partly based on reality, the 50 birds by Fero included in this exhibition are a visual feast for the eyes. Figurative sculptures, bottles, teapots and other glass objects round out Fero’s offerings.
Brim creates pillows, aprons, hats, and tutus, not out of soft fabrics but out of steel. Her paradoxical approach to both objects and materials has powered Brim’s innovation through the reimagining of mundane objects and by creating a technique to inflate steel.
The exhibition also includes works by Brim and Fero created in collaboration with each other, as well as with Penland School of Crafts affiliated glass artists Che Rhodes and Pablo Soto, who assisted in the production of some of Fero’s bottles.
Fire and Flame: Elizabeth Brim and Shane Fero is an exhibition exploring the decades-long friendship and collaboration between two artists whose careers and acquaintance blossomed at the Penland School of Craft. Elizabeth Brim is a blacksmith, as well as a teacher, living in western North Carolina. She's best known for mastering the dichotomy of feminine imagery and ironwork. Shane Fero is a glassworker using flame to perfect his technique of 'lampworking' to envision intricate, delicate and ephemeral sculptures. Both are inspired by their environment and both's works are an allegory to their own human experience.
Fire and Flame is a testament to this long nurtured friendship. Two individuals understanding the transformative power of fire and translating the process in iron and glass. Featuring signature works of their unique styles and collaborative works seamlessly joining their disparate materials, this exhibition ignites the understanding that all is possible through curiosity and dedication.