Seeds at Westobou Gallery 2024

The SEEDS Juror

Makeda Lewis is an artist, emerging independent curator and program coordinator living and working out of Atlanta. She has curated for MINT Gallery, Dashboard, and Swan Coach House Gallery, exhibited her work across Atlanta, in Charlotte, NC, and Berlin, Germany, and completed several commissions she is very proud of, including the 2020 Feminist Women’s Health Center abortion care campaign and a revised book cover for The Living is Easy by Dorothy West. Alongside her artistic and curatorial practice, she is focused on engaging the public with art and art history in interesting and nuanced ways. This is the main focus of her programming and community work–to learn and share information and nurture appreciation in a way that is impactful and transcends the barriers many have to approaching art. On any given day, you can find her eating fried catfish or sitting in Grant Park. PHOTO CREDIT: Terrell Clark

The SEEDS Artists

Emily Bender Grovetown, GA

@embenderdesigns

Emily Bender is a designer and artist focusing on fiber art, murals and digital art in the Southeast with over a decade of experience in the design world. In previous roles, she worked as a content creator, graphic designer and marketing specialist for several companies before starting her own agency – Em Bender Designs. Bender’s personal style can be described as colorful, eclectic and joyful, as she loves for her art to spark happiness in every way. This aesthetic trends towards the maximalist, with layered textures, rich colors, and pops of visual interest. Bender pulls inspiration from her upbringing on a rural sheep farm, perpetual trips to hole-in-the-wall antique shops, world travels far and wide, and connections to other artisans, photographers and designers. Bender’s goal is to bring joy to her community through art while lending a hand to those who would like to do the same.

Caroline Clark Lugoff, SC

www.revisioniststudio.art // @revisioniststudio

Caroline Clark is a functional ceramic sculptor whose work highlights a sense of joy and wonder in everyday items. Exploring themes of community, growth and movement, she creates her own variations of the hidden symbiotic systems of coral reefs and mycelium networks. Her work draws parallels to our own communities and support systems and invites examination of human interconnectedness and the effect we have on those around us. Clark earned a B.A. in English and Spanish, an M.A. in Spanish Education, and spent twelve years as a Spanish educator before becoming a ceramicist and sculptor. Primarily self-taught, she has developed her own processes and tools to construct her intricate functional sculptures. Her work has been exhibited by The Jasper Gallery, FemmeX, Gap Gallery, numerous juried fine art fairs throughout the Southeast, and in private collections across the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. Clark currently lives and creates in the pine forests of her childhood in rural South Carolina and is actively involved in local arts organizations.

Heather René Dunaway Augusta, GA

@heatherrenedunawayart/

 Heather René Dunaway is an Augusta, GA native who graduated from Augusta University’s Pamplin College of Arts in 2012. In her artistic path she finds inspiration from repeated patterns including those found in nature, printed fabrics, human behavior and genetics. She sees these patterns reflected in her life, family and society. In her recent works she has overlaid these notions utilizing predominately found or inherited nostalgic materials, such as her grandparent’s quilting fabric, property maps and old photographs, while also incorporating acrylic ink painting and polaroid emulsion transfers. Her works can be seen as colorful expressions often implementing repeated form and shape with multiple layers, both physical and metaphorical.

Abby Edwards Savannah, GA

www.abbyedwardsart.com // @abbyedwardsart

Abby Edwards (b. 1993, Augusta) is an artist based in Savannah, Georgia. She has a B.F.A in Graphic Design from the Savannah College or Art and Design. Ranging from sculpture, painting, installation, and public art, her work has been shown at the Jepson Center, Sulfur Studios, and Gutstein Gallery in Savannah, Georgia, Lamar Dodd Art Center in LaGrange, Georgia, Westobou Gallery in Augusta, Georgia, and ATHICA in Athens, Georgia. She has also created work for Fantastic Fungi, UNFK Earth + Amplifier Art, CAT Savannah Transit, and SCAD.

AP Faust Atlanta, GA

Apfaust.com // @ap.faust

Adam P. (AP) Faust is a creative based in Atlanta. He holds a BFA from Guilford College, where his 2014 Sculpture Thesis featured found object sculptures inspired by explorations in dreams, memory, and the woods of Durham and Greensboro, North Carolina. After graduating, Faust embraced collage as his primary art form, delving into surrealist explorations of the subconscious through dreams and automatism, and utilizing collage to reshape narratives through physical media. Currently, Faust serves as the Operations Director at Callanwolde Fine Arts Center. In this role, he curates exhibitions and programs in collaboration with various Atlanta arts organizations, educators, and artists at all stages of their careers.

Hannah Lawler Aiken, SC

www.hannahlawler.com/fine-art // @hannahlawlerart

H. Lawler is a professional digital artist specializing in real-time 3D art who has worked in game development, production design for television, architectural visualization, and more. They hold a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design (2012) as well as a certificate in digital production from the Gnomon School of Visual Effects (2018). Their fine art practice explores our relationships to nature, place, and memory. Mixed media such as India ink, charcoal, oils, and monotype printmaking processes allow for dynamic and intuitive mark-making that border on abstraction. Figure, ground, and gesture merge in a way that is intentionally unsettling, inviting the viewer to question assumptions. Animals are metaphors and remembered landscapes refuse a nostalgic gaze. A Massachusetts native and ex-Californian, Lawler now lives and works in Aiken, South Carolina.

Jocelyn Pope North Augusta, SC

www.jocelynpope.com/

An emerging artist based in North Augusta, Jocelyn Pope is recognized by her striking and thought-provoking realistic portraiture and figure paintings. Working with a focus in oils, Jocelyn’s principal focus when creating is addressing topics important to her such as race, gender, and belonging. Her works have recently been shown in youth exhibitions spanning from Savannah, GA to Washington DC. Alongside her interest in creating art, she spends time in the multitude of opportunities in her community that allow her to engage with others in a shared love of art, history, and music. These interactions further her inspirations, guiding her in her creative process.

Noah Reyes Atlanta, GA

https://noahreyesartist.com/

Noah Reyes lives and works in Atlanta, GA. Reyes is an artist taking steps in many different directions, resulting in an awkward dance between curating, writing, and artmaking. Their work plays with words and symbols to craft a slippage of meaning about where they come from and where they are. Touching upon a history we are a part of, but cannot fully define, Noah aims to bridge connections between people and cultures to shape a more empathetic and nurturing future. Outside of art they are currently pursuing interests in weightlifting, biking, and cooking. They work for Art Papers, serve as a board member for Lostintheletters, and co-founded Eso Tilin Projects. Sometimes they write for ArtsATL, ART PAPERS, and Burnaway. Currently they are reading The Face of Another by Kobo Abe.

Ghost Town Atlanta, GA

www.eerieandcheery.com // @GhostTown.ATL

The name “Ghost Town” comes from a time Russell was living outside of Detroit and spending a lot of time, both solo and with friends, exploring the many abandoned factories and buildings of the city. He has always been fascinated with empty spaces and those that have been forgotten. To be able to enter a place like that, to learn it’s history, and to try to put together some of the pieces of a place’s past will always be something that Russell loves. “Ghost Town” is a combination of his past experiences with his current life in an illustrated form. Over the last decade, Russell has spent time developing a style based off of early 1900’s black and white cartoons blended with a more modern twist of both imagery and events. Using clean lines and vibrant emotion, the pieces themselves are rather straightforward with their interpretations being delivered to the viewers more plainly. Russell’s artwork functions as a space to allow folks feel relaxed and happy.

Nyala Yvonne Atlanta, GA

@golden.half

Nyala Yvonne (b.1997) is a Black American emerging artist originally from the outskirts of Tallahassee, Florida, and now based in Atlanta, Georgia. Yvonne has a BA in Studio Art from Florida State University with a foundation in creative writing, mixed media collage, and video art. Her creative journey is a synthesis of traditional and contemporary techniques. Through the tactile manipulation of found materials and the dynamic interplay of images, she explores themes of memory, identity, and societal constructs using an afro-surrealist lens. Her Black identity is a physical place in her work. A place that coexists with absurdity yet, is resiliently grounded like the roots of a tree Yvonne’s work has been exhibited in several spaces around Georgia and Florida such as Cat Eye Creative, Echo Contemporary, Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, Dalton Gallery, The Bakery Gallery, and Hapeville Depot Museum. Yvonne has attended residencies at The Hambidge Center for Creative Arts, as well as Underground Atlanta. She was awarded MINT Gallery’s 2023-2024 Leap Year Fellowship.