STITCHED & UNSTITCHED

A COLLABORATIVE VIGIL

Victoria Marie Bee presents "Stitched & Unstitched," a collaborative event featuring a solo art exhibition of new works by Stephanie Berrie, & reading organized by Jess Smith of faculty & students from Texas Tech University.

As a continuation of the vigil we began in response to the events in Charlottesville, "Stitched & Unstitched" will also include a reading by local writers committed to remaining vigilant in the face of oppression & inequality. A range of voices will share poetry & prose engaging our national crises & honoring those who have been & continue to be victimized by it. From 7-8pm, outside of Studio 4, Meghan Giles, Jackie Price, Dima Alhesan, Matthew Porto, Valerie Wayson, Jon Bishop, & D. Gilson will share their work with us. We hope to see you there, and at all future events!

First Friday Art Trail, October 6, 2017: 6-9pm

artist & readers of the event; photography by VMBEE

featured artist: Stephanie Berrie

Stephanie Berrie is printmaker & painter from Dayton, Ohio. She received her BFA from The Columbus College of Art & Design, & is currently an MFA student at Texas Tech University & a 2017 Helen DeVitt Jones Print Fellow. Her work primarily discusses the female body through floral & fruit imagery, sexuality & trama on the body, & uses a combination of printmaking techniques in conjunction with painting.

"My current work reflects what I have experienced physically and psychologically on and through my body. Whether these experiences have been self-inflicted or caused by external forces, they have molded my relationship with my body and how I identify with it. I feel a disassociation with myself that is explored here through organic materials and imagery, serving as metaphors for the emotional and physical matter beneath my skin. How can I be so sure what is truly inside my body if I cannot easily break my skin’s barrier and access it? The dripping plant imagery, the use of hair and dead flowers, and seed pods take the place of what could be my stomach, muscles, growths inside my body, or skin. The materials I use to create a piece undergo stress and trauma, while emulating playfulness and careful craftsmanship. Not only does my body have the ability to receive abuse and pain, but it has the capacity to inflict it as well. I express this by burning, cutting, and neglecting my materials while presenting them in a way that could be considered humiliating. However, I remorse this humiliation by emphasizing detail in my work: hand sewing fabrics and paper, drawing each strand of hair, taking the time to fully render paintings and drawings. It is a dichotomous relationship that continues to affect my work and myself."

featured readers: Meghan Giles, Jackie Price, Dima Alhesan, Matthew Porto, Valerie Wayson, Jon Bishop, & D. Gilson (reading organized with Jess Smith)

Jess Smith's poetry and nonfiction have appeared or are forthcoming in 32 Poems, Waxwing, Juked, Winter Tangerine, and other journals. She is currently a PhD student in English at Texas Tech University, where she co-founded and curates the LHUCA Literary Series.

Meghan E. Giles received her MFA from McNeese State University, where she served as the Managing Editor for The McNeese Review. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Measure: A Review of Formal Poetry, The Dock: Hayden’s Ferry Review Online, South Dakota Review, and elsewhere. She is currently pursuing her PhD at Texas Tech University.

Valerie Wayson taught English in Madagascar as a Peace Corps volunteer, and grammar and writing at the American University of Iraq. She now studies creative nonfiction at Texas Tech. Valerie loves language and travel, and does her best to mingle the two.

Jacquelline Faithe Price is a communication enthusiast. She enjoys exploring innovative approaches to self-expression. Through writing, it is Jacquelline’s hope that one more module of her viewpoint will help others in some way.

D. Gilson is an Assistant Professor of English at Texas Tech and his forthcoming book is Jesus Freak, part of Bloomsbury’s 33 1/3 series. He is the author of I Will Say This Exactly One Time: Essays (Sibling Rivalry, 2015); Crush, with Will Stockton (Punctum Books, 2014); Brit Lit (Sibling Rivalry, 2013); and Catch & Release (2012), winner of the Robin Becker Prize. His essays and poetry have appeared in Threepenny Review, POETRY, The Indiana Review, The Rumpus, and twice as a notable essay in Best American Essays.

Matthew Porto is from Long Island, NY. He holds an MFA in poetry from Boston University. His work has most recently appeared in Crosswinds, SWAMP, and Strange Horizons, and in the anthology A Packet of Poems for Ezra Pound, published by Clemson University Press. He is currently a PhD student in poetry at Texas Tech University.

Jon Bishop is a Junior History major from Dallas, Texas. When he’s not in class you can find him in the Residence Halls Association (RHA) office working on campus wide programing for on campus residents. If he’s not there you could find him reading a book, watching YouTube, or taking a seven-hour nap in his bed. Jon hopes to go to grad school for Creative Writing, and aspires to give back in the classroom on either the collegiate or high school levels.