Exhibition “Herd” opens at APSU’s The New Gallery

Clarksville, TN – The New Gallery at Austin Peay State University (APSU), with support from The Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts and the Department of Art + Design, is pleased to kick off the 2022-23 exhibition season with “Herd,” a solo exhibition by experimental quilter Paula Kovarik.

“I have fallen in love with the work of Memphis-based experimental quilter Paula Kovarik, and I am excited to open up our exhibition season with a large installation of her new works,” said Michael Dickins, director of The New Gallery.

“‘Quilter’ is a box that Kovarik often gets put in, but her works are not quilts at all. They do use the vernacular of quilting and quilting materiality, but the quilt base is merely a ledge that Kovarik gladly leaps from. This installation consists of playful sculptures, nuanced stitched drawings, and interactive works where the artist tries to make sense of her place within the chaotic political world that surrounds her,” Dickins stated.
 
The exhibit opens on Wednesday, August 17th, and runs through September 16th at The New Gallery in the Art + Design building at Austin Peay State University.
 
“I express myself through the medium of fabric and thread and explore what cannot be seen,” Kovarik said. “My intuitive line work travels the surface of my work as if a meditation has become solid, and I am inspired by everything from cracks in sidewalks to electronic circuitry and microscopic life.”

“The tactile nature of the cloth and thread makes the work approachable and mysterious at the same time. It’s about layered, ripped, cut and sandwiched together pieces – producing a composition held together by the narrative of the thread. Inward thoughts become outwardly apparent through slow and studied attention to detail,” stated Kovarik.

Several events are scheduled to accompany the exhibition:

• Kovarik will present an artist lecture on her work and creative practice at 6:00pm on August 31st in the APSU Art + Design building’s Room 120.
• A reception and gallery talk with Kovarik will start at noon on September 1st in The New Gallery.
• This exhibition will be open during Clarksville’s First Thursday Art Walk on September 1st from 5:00pm-7:30pm. Kovarik will be in The New Gallery with her sewing machine giving demonstrations and having conversations with visitors.

The exhibition and all events are free and open to the public.

A virtual tour of the exhibition will be available soon at www.apsu.edu/art-design/thenewgallery.

Hours for The New Gallery are 9:00am-4:00pm Monday-Friday, closed on weekends and holidays, and follow the university’s academic calendar.

For more information on this exhibition, contact Dickins at dickinsm@apsu.edu.

About the Artist

Kovarik received her Bachelor of Arts in graphic design from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. As the creative director and owner of Shades of Gray, Inc., a graphic design studio, she specialized in communications. And now she is a full-time artist and fiber art workshop teacher.

Kovarik’s award-winning fiber art has been recognized by several national venues including Quilt National, Quilts=Art=Quilts, ArtQuilt Elements, World of Threads, FiberArt Now Excellence in Fibers and the Visions Art Museum.

Her work has been collected by the International Quilt Museum in Lincoln NE and the International Airport in Memphis, TN as well as several private collections. She has been profiled in American Craft, FiberArt Now and Art Quilting Studio magazines.

Her work is featured in “Art Quilts Unfolding – 50 Years of Innovation” by Sandra Sider, Nancy Bavor, Lisa Ellis and Martha Sielman and “Art Quilts International Abstract & Geometric” by Martha Sielman. 

Paula lives and works in Memphis, Tennessee.