"Uprooted" Mesh Art by Kelle Jolly

Knoxville, along with many other cities, has experienced a series a storms that have left trees uprooted. The wind from these summer storms have knocked trees down and left many people without power, phone and internet. These people are unable to communicate quickly with family and friends. And they've adjusted their lifestyles to deal with no electricity. Physically and emotionally, everyone, in some way has felt uprooted, like the trees left scattered across our community.

Through social media, I invited friends to share stories of being "uprooted". These images and stories were full of emotions, like hurt and despair. But feelings of relief and gratefulness were also clear. I listened to these stories and allowed my mind to wrap itself around the feeling. And soon, the images grew from hands into shapes and forms of mesh and fabric. I decided to use wire mesh and plastic mesh because the loose ends resemble the wild roots of uprooted trees. Semi-transparent, wire mesh is the perfect canvas for weaving images. It gave me the option of adding to the surface by painting directly on it or adding materials by hand-sewing through it. A music composition was created with the stories that were left by voice mail. The recordings of the stories encourage the viewer to continually explore the feeling of being uprooted.

SHORT BIO

Kelle Jolly is an artist, actress, designer, educator and musician. She has created all of her life. "My earliest memories are of cutting up my baby clothes, to make doll clothes.", she says. Kelle enjoys using her hands to manipulate fabric, especially. In 2011, she was awarded the EMERGING ARTIST AWARD by the Dogwood Arts Festival for her line of wearable art "SUSHI DRESSES". Finding ways to combine her talents of designing, sewing and performing keep her motivated. Kelle says, "I want my memories to documented through the art I create."

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Entertainment

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• first
• friday
• art
• show
• textile
• plastic
• mesh
• kelle
• jolly
• urbhana
• knoxville
• downtown
• yoga
• artist
• drawing meditation painting