Spotlight by Meg Arsenovic & Amelia Toelke

Artist list

Meg Arsenovic, Amelia Toelke

A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Material Studies program, Meg Arsenovic‘s recent work invites you into a child-like candy colored world of plush textures.  Playful and enticing, the forms, comprised of coiled or constructed faux fur and fabric fringe, are modest and pristine. If the colors and materials serve as metaphor for childlike naiveté, perhaps we can be reminded of a time we were unencumbered by complex, imperfect influences. What happens when we can reexamine what we have been taught? Arsenovic has created friction points and texture gradations that create an intimate electricity. Meg has exhibited throughout Virginia including The Taubman Museum of Art and in various group exhibitions throughout the country.

Amelia Toelke’s recent work on paper plays with the space between object and image, reality and representation. Using gold and silver leaf, in combination with collage, and finely painted lines, these works make graphic imagery tactile. Pop culture emoji symbols, calligraphic script, and silhouetted shapes articulate a visual vocabulary that speaks to art historical traditions and material value. Toelke’s interest in collaboration and public art guides much of her practice, with recent projects including a 2016 site specific work in The Republic of Georgia’s Artisterium project an artist-in-residence at Lanzhou City University in Lanzhou, China and at Brush Creek Center for the Arts in Saratoga, Wyoming. With a BFA in metals from the State University of New York at New Paltz and an MFA in visual art from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Toelke has exhibited nationally and internationally. Her work is currently on view in the outdoor contemporary sculpture exhibition, Out Of Site, on the grounds of Chesterwood.