Artist Talks at Starworks

Starworks Glass Studio resident artist Wes Heart and Ceramics Studio resident artist KyoungHwa Oh and intern Willow Stevenson will present slides and discuss their work at their artist talks at Starworks, in the Main Exhibition Gallery, June 22, at 5:30 p.m. The presentations are free and open to the public. Artist Talks will be followed by the Starworks Old Time Jam, in the Starworks Café & Taproom, starting at 7pm.

Starworks is a family friendly and dog friendly environment. Enjoy refreshments from the Starworks Cafe & Taproom before, during and after the event. The Cafe is open until 9pm and has a large selection of hot and cold beverages, locally crafted wines, beer, pastries, locally prepared sandwiches, desserts and other snacks available for purchase. For more information, visit www.StarworksNC.org. Wes Heart is an artist, designer, and educator living in Philadelphia. He holds two degrees in glass, a BFA from Southern Illinois University of Carbondale and MFA from Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University. He is the Founder of Blob Blob Studio and also teaches in the Art Glass Program at Salem Community College’s Glass Education Center in Southern New Jersey. Wes’s current work utilizes a playful approach to form and function. He founded Blob Blob Studio to
focus on creating designs that do both. By intuitively collaging media and process, he exaggerates each material’s beauty. Using bold color, the optical properties of glass, light, and texture, he creates impactful sculptural forms that demand further investigation. His work has been featured in New Glass Review, published by the Corning Museum of Glass and he has received multiple awards, including a Windgate Fellowship, the Rickert-Ziebold Trust Award, an AACG Visionary Scholarship, and was a 2022 Center for Craft Career Advancement Fellow.

More information about Wes: www.BlobBlobStudio.com

KyoungHwa Oh was born in Seoul, Korea, where she spent her childhood and naturally developed a connection to traditional Korean ceramics (Koryo Celadon). Oh studied fashion design in Korea and worked for five years as a designer before coming to the United States to gain more design experience. While in the United States, she became interested in working with clay and changed her plans to study ceramics. KyoungHwa Oh is an Associate Professor of Art at Colorado Mesa University.  After receiving her MFA degree, Oh worked as a Visiting Resident Artist at Midwestern State University in Wichita Fall, Texas from 2009 to 2011. She started at CMU as the Art and Design Department’s first Visiting-Artist-in-Residence in Fall 2011, as part of an initiative to expose art students to unique artistic approaches. She joined the department as an Assistant Professor in 2014 and am a ceramics-based studio artist who teaches both ceramics and foundation courses in the Art and Design Department. Oh has been included in many juried and invitational exhibitions throughout the United Stated, China, Turkey, and Canada. The ICMEA (International Ceramic Magazine Educators Association) recognized her as an emerging artist in 2010 and Oh has also received the Ceramic Monthly Emerging Artist Award in 2012.

More information about KyoungHwa: www.kyounghwa.com.

Born and raised in the mountains of Western North Carolina, Willow Stevenson grew up spending most of her days outside, making art: muddy hands and bare feet at the river bank, mixing wildflowers into pretend tinctures, making inks from berries and walnuts, drying plants to use in collages, and befriending the land around her. She loves working at the intersection of art + the environment as well as integrating multiple mediums. Through hand drawn animations, ceramics, videos, and projection, explore the interconnections of landscapes, bodies, time, and sense of place. Willow Stevenson received a BA Art + Environmental Studies from Guilford College, Greensboro, NC, 2021.

More information about Willow: www.willowstevenson.com

Starworks is an artist focused 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, that emphasizes excellence in educational and community programming. Artists worldwide, can apply for Starworks Studio internships and residencies that offer space, time and access to state of the art resources that will aid artists in all stages of their career with advancing their skills and developing a professional network. Starworks is located at 100 Russell Drive in Star, just off I-73/74 in northern Montgomery County.