Opening Reception + Artist Talk: Megan Nolde, "Tempor"

Richmond-based artist and educator, Megan Nolde, will exhibit new work in her first solo show, "Tempor" opening at Quirk June 1. This Main Gallery exhibition will feature some of the print methods Nolde has become known for while incorporating new explorations and manipulations of familiar materials installed alongside patinated tools that stand in contrast to the delicate papers, laces, and threads used in her work.

"Temporal. To be transient and ephemeral. Tempered. To be affected and changed by time and experience. These concepts function in relationship in this body of work-- a body of work damaged and repaired, ripped and let be, conspicuous in mending. The work embraces a less Western aesthetic, a 'sabi' relating to the beauty of a sheen of history and time. What are we but our collected experiences? What do we carry with us? Shed along the way? If there is only the present moment, how do we fit our stories of self into that?

Delicacy and heft. Trade tools, rusted and worn, sit in relationship to light papers and laces. Make the connection. Tell the story as you see fit, for your story is part of all this. In relationship we find our stories, our history, our temper and tempor. Sit with the stories collected here and let your own spin out as well. It is just as light, just a dark, just as it is."

Megan was born and raised in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, steeped in craft, tradition, work, family, stories, and drawing. The daughter of a civil engineer with construction knowledge and a developmental psychologist turned photographer, Megan became a printmaker, incorporating family traditions of textile handwork and guild craftsmanship in the process. Moving to Richmond for college, Megan stayed to teach art in public school for 6 years while also volunteering at Studio Two Three, Richmond's community printshop. While she left for two years to earn her MFA in Printmaking from Tyler School of Art at Temple University, her love of Richmond drew her back. She is once again a resident there, creating work in drawing, fibers, and various print media.