The Eno Arts Mill is home to the Eno Mill Gallery, a 1,000 square foot exhibit space that offers our studio artists the opportunity to exhibit their work. Each of our studio artists have a one-month featured exhibit of their work on a rotating basis. New gallery exhibits open the first Friday of each month and feature the opportunity to visit our artist studios and enjoy live music, food trucks and beverages.
CURRENT EXHIBIT:
SEPTEMBER 2023
Open Tuesday-Saturday; 12-5pm and evenings during classes
“Disposession“
With Freddie Bell and Beth Tacular
Dispossession
All bodies tell a story.
Many of these stories are of loss.
Our bodies hold on to our grief, remembering what we no longer possess.
Our bodies evolve, change, and shift – lived narratives weaving through our tissues and living in our bones.
We hold on to what we know, whether we like it or not.
With varying results, both Freddie Bell and Beth Tacular explore the relationship of the body to life and loss.
The colorful abstraction alongside black and white surrealism reflects the tension we often hold towards facing realities of life. Loss of loved ones, changed relationships, bodies growing older. It hurts to face these things because we’ve loved them dearly. The paradox of a life lived. A beautiful balance ought to be found in a life full of loss – shared here through the juxtaposition of these works.
About The Artists
My identity as a queer and transgender person informs how I see and move through the world and is a fundamental influence in all my work. I aim to subvert binaries and am interested in our constructed societal systems and the natural systems of our physical bodies. I am a multi-disciplinary artist working in both 2-D and 3-D formats.
Currently my focus is on how the body knows about and holds on to grief and trauma. Our interior systems store our lived experiences in our fascia tissues, gut, and bones. Working in acrylic or mixed media, I utilize multiple materials to best tell the shared story of grief. Grief is a universal experience and truth. One that is often hidden in our society. I am interested in bringing it to the surface and healing in community.
My ongoing project “Interior Logic” consists of photographs of my own sculptures, series of abstract acrylic paintings, as well as multiple sculptures of “bones”. The bones fill space, reflecting the weight and power of grief and trauma on our systems as individuals and communities. The process of making the bone sculptures is one of repetition and rhythm. I can get into a meditative state and be present with just my mind, body, and work. The bone becomes a container for grief.
F E T I S H
Fetish.
As in, amulet.
As in, an object of protection in a time of despair.
As in, an object of power, reminding us of ours.
As in, a mirror to peer into, to see yourself reflected back – not in the way you are seen by a capitalist, white supremacist, transmisogynist, ableist system, but how you are seen by a tree, by a dragonfly, by a mycelial network, by the stars, by your microbiome, by me.
As in, a message from the ancestors, a channeling of their deepest desires for how we might live our lives, remedy what we can, while we still can.
As in, a thing that contains many things. The body as fetish, as amulet.
As in, an expression of our terror, the residue of our fierceness, of our ecstasy, the wet spot on the sheets, the blood on the sword.
To make this work, I enter into a meditative, trancelike state and let my hand be led until the drawing is complete. I have aphantasia, meaning I lack the ability to picture anything at all inside my “mind’s eye”, so this process is my only way of making visible my inner vision. I am always surprised by what reveals itself. Sometimes I am soothed; sometimes I am terrified. I make these drawings from a place of both deep reverence and lighthearted bafflement at the absurdity of the mess we humans find ourselves in, that I find myself in. But mostly I’m just staying present and laying down the endless evidence of my awe at the profundity of existing here and now, in this corporeal body, in this energy body, in the body of community and the body of the earth. The bliss and horror of existing in this moment, in the body of the universe, and also existing, as we do, forever outside of space and time. I love having a body. I take great pleasure in my body, and in other beings’ bodies, but my body is also often a site of pain and grief and is the place where I experience the wide breadth of felt experiences in all their bewildering complexity.
Drawing like this has carried me through periods of deep grief, through transitions that have been devastating, self-shattering, and at times, sublime. I have grappled with the physicality of being a birthing and nursing parent of a child who struggled almost impossibly to eat, of freefalling through losses and heartbreaks in quick succession, of coming to terms with time’s ravages on my body, of facing acute and chronic illness, of living through my body’s ever-unfolding experience of gender and sexuality, of navigating, with all of you, the minefields of three years of a global pandemic. My quiet, ritualistic habit of rhythmically moving my hand across the paper, viscerally transmuting my lived experience into manifest form, has been a portal, a tunnel safely through.
I lay these drawings down as markers on the trail, to help me remember who I am under my skin, to keep me grateful for the chance to have a body, to live a life. Each drawing becomes a fetish: a divinatory transmission through the body, and a multilayered reflection on what it is to have a body, in its multiplicity. We are all mortal, vulnerable, sometimes visibly wounded, but we are also timeless, perfect and exalted.
STUDIO 17 HALL GALLERY
JOHN DEMPSEY
Alla Prima: Painting Painters
One traditional method of starting an oil painting is by using a dark/ light/halftone process of painting in the composition all at once, or ‘alla prima’, using an earth tone thinned down with turpentine. The results are often nicknamed tobacco-juice paintings, among Western art academy students, and soy sauce paintings, among their Asian counterparts. The resulting study is used as an underpainting that is then painted over with a full color palette, hiding it from view in the finished painting.
Painting Painters contains a number of these tobacco juice paintings created while demonstrating this technique to first semester painting students in Flint, Michigan at Mott Community College. The demo became more fun, and the banter livelier, when the students became the subject matter. Many of these were given away to the sitter. Some of my souvenirs are shown here.
UPCOMING EXHIBITS:
October & November, 2023: 7th Annual Paint It Orange Plein Air Wet Paint Sale
Opening Reception Friday, October 6 | 6-9PM
PAST EXHIBITS:
AUGUST 2023: Of A Complex Nature
“Of a Complex Nature“
With Eno Mill Artist:
Esten Walker
Also Featuring:
Sarina Angell
John Beerman
Mercedes Jelinek
Candace Jensen
Thomas Rowell
About the show
Of a Complex Nature is an exciting exhibit featuring artists with national recognition, connected by threads of relations: to the natural world, to North Carolina, and to the Eno River Arts Mill. Each artist in this exhibition––Sarina Angel, John Beerman, Mercedes Jelinek, Candace Jensen, Thomas Rowell, and Esten Walker––has spent many hours absorbing and attuning themselves to nature’s intricacies. Through this varied body of artwork––of photography, illumination, sculpture and painting––an environment of aesthetics is created for the viewer. So too, this selection of artwork is presented in relation to quotes from some of today’s foremost scientific and philosophical thinkers.
JULY 2023: The Once and Future Self by Max Dowdle
A “name your price” format: all 100 works of art are unpriced. Simply fill out a bid sheet in the gallery with the price you’re willing to pay. At the end of the show, the highest bidder wins!
About the show
Through a synthesis of vivid colors, intricate brushwork, and symbolic imagery, I invite viewers to embark on a journey of introspection and exploration. The title of the show, “The Once and Future Self,” encapsulates the central theme of personal transformation and the interconnectedness of our past, present, and future.
Dreams serve as the gateway to the subconscious, allowing us to transcend the boundaries of our waking reality. In my artwork, I capture the ephemeral nature of dreams, rendering surreal landscapes and enigmatic figures that inhabit the liminal spaces between fantasy and reality. These dreamscapes invite viewers to contemplate the profound symbolism embedded in their own nocturnal visions.
“The Once and Future Self” invites viewers to ebark on a transformative voyage, where dreams intertwine with reality, time converges, and the essence of our being unfolds. Through this exploration, I aspire to ignite a dialogue about the profound interconnectedness that shapes our existence and the boundless possibilities that lie within each of us.
About Max Dowdle
Growing up in a family of artists and craftspeople, Max was exposed to creativity from an early age. After earning a double major in Fine Art and Art History from the College of Charleston, he continued his studies at Charles Cecil Studios in Florence, Italy. There, he learned classical atelier techniques that further honed my artistic skills and helped me develop a deep appreciation for the old master methods. Since then, he has had the privilege of working as a professional artist in North Carolina, where he specializes in creating public art through a collaborative process that involves the community. He believes that public art should reflect the people it serves, and that by working together we can create something truly special and meaningful.
JUNE 2023: Weave Your Dreams with Michelle Spaulding
APRIL 2023 - JUNE 2023: Accessible Intuition by TJ Mundy (Hallway Show)
I am antidisciplinary and I think you should make any art you want. In my own art, I make use of different colors, weighted lines, and intuitive movement to express my thoughts. Using mainly paint markers and accessible canvases like paper cardboard, and found objects, I try to convey all that I am and how I exist.
When you see my art, you are seeing the process of me processing… Ruminating manifesting, aching, grieving, celebrating – and through my use of color and movement, I try to process. You may also see what you need to see… and I want you to be able to face that. I hope my art can help you look deeper into yourself and make progress on whatever it is you really need.
MAY 2023: Orange County Artists Guild Spring Art Show
ORANGE COUNTY ARTISTS GUILD SPRING ART SHOW
Featuring work by members of the Orange County Artists Guild
APRIL 2023: Spring Cleaning Studio Clean-out
The Eno Arts Mill 🌸Spring Cleaning🌸 Studio Clean-out Show features 100+ visual works, jewelry, apparel and more by our 17 studio artists!
MARCH 2023: Samir Knego - Moonfall Variations
SAMIR KNEGO
Moonfall Variations
Samir Knego is a multidisciplinary artist and zinester. He was LEVEL’s Spring 2021 Local Artist-In-Residence and is currently part of Socially Distant Art’s 2022-23 disability arts residency. Find him online at samirknego.wixsite.com/here or in person at the Eno Arts Mill in Hillsborough.
Moonfall Variations is a combination of printmaking, painting, and collage centered around the eponymous moonfalls. This show is sort of about the sky in all its various moods, sort of about the color yellow, and sort of about getting my hands covered in paint and ink.
I’m always motivated by the tactile experience of making art, which most recently has led me to trying some low-tech printmaking techniques like linocut and gelli plate prints. This show also marks a tentative foray into working with fabric and some of the largest pieces I’ve done so far.
OCTOBER 2022 - MARCH 2023: Art Therapy Institute (Hallway Show)
ART THERAPY INSTITUTE
The mission of the Art Therapy Institute is to advance the well-being and mental health of diverse communities through accessible, strengths-based, culturally-responsive art therapy, education, and research.
ATI’s Hillsborough Office is located in the Eno Arts Mill, and this exhibit features work by clients, clinicians, and collaborative community art projects.
FEBRUARY 2023: FROM THE GROUND UP - Rooted in Place, Land, and Body
Featured artists:
JANUARY 2023: Coalesce
Coalesce features twenty Orange County-based artists: ten poets and ten visual artists. Created and curated by husband and wife team Max and Morrow Dowdle, the selected artists were matched in pairs, with each poet creating a poem based on a visual work by their partner, and each visual artist creating a work based on a poem. The resulting exhibit will feature 20 works of visual art paired with 20 poems.
Featured artist teams:
Theresa Arico / Bartholomew Barker
Tonya Brami / Fred Joiner
Dennis Szerszen / Paul Jones
Ann Brownlee Hobgood / Samir Knego
Ryan Solstice / Amelia Loeffler
Natalia Torres del Valle / Blaine Purcell
Sudie Rakusin / Soteria Shepperson
TJ Mundy / Gideon Young
Esten Walker / Katie Bowler Young
Max Dowdle / Morrow Dowdle
DECEMBER 2022: Deck the Walls Annual Holiday Show
NOVEMBER 2022: RIPPLE featuring Ryann Carey and Amy Gelber
OCTOBER 2022: 6th Annual Paint it Orange Plein Air Paint-out
For three days, 66 painters from four states painted Orange County en plein air (outside) for Paint it Orange. More than 100 works of art on on sale through the end of the month. The Paint it Orange Wet Paint Sale is a unique opportunity to purchase original art featuring sites and scenery unique to Orange County ranging from landscapes to landmarks and everything in between! Mediums range from oil to watercolor to pastel. The works are in a wide variety of sizes at all price points.
View this year’s winners here and save the date for Paint it Orange 2023 happening October 4-6, 2023.
AUGUST-OCTOBER 2022: Esten Walker's Vibrant Matter: Book of Days (Hallway Show)
ESTEN WALKER
Vibrant Matter: Book of Days
a gladdening experience of continuity…admist a fluid medium made up of images belonging to memory and perception, a free to-and-fro between past and present, between solid order, and playful confusion.
– Byung Chul Han, The Scent of Time
Observing the gestalts and the emergences of the world around us––whether briefly encountered, or through a duration in a place––unlocks a creativity in us. I am intrigued by the vibrant matter all around us, of which we are part of its assemblage. This work is from my spring “book of days.” These are moments of attentiveness.
Esten Walker is a multi-media artist interested in exploring the poetic forces emergent and arising from nature, constructed environments, and the spaces of our human psyche. Esten lives and works in North Carolina where she enjoys hiking and walking. This informs her artistic practice, as well as her interest in NC conservation. She has studied with JSS, in Civita Castellana, Italy; Penland School of Craft; and Massachusetts College of Art, among others. In 2021, Esten received her MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, where she was a merit scholar, and recipient of the Mary Butler Fellowship Award. Esten is an Eno River Arts Mill resident artist.
SEPTEMBER 2022: To See and Be Seen; To Know and Be Known by Kelly Oakes
AUGUST 2022: INSIGHT featuring Audrey Pinto, Mar Hester, and Christine Hager-Braun
JULY 2022: Building Bridges: An Exhibition of Latin American Artists in the Triangle
Building Bridges: An Exhibit of Latin American Artists in the Triangle
Featured Triangle Artists:
Nana Abreu, Durham
Antonio Alanis, Durham
Fabrizio Bianchi, Durham
Cornelio Campos, Durham
Melissa Garcia Corona, Efland
The Dib Studio, Hillsborough
IKORMA, Hillsborough
Saba Jordan, Carrboro
Eduardo Lapetina, Chapel Hill
Cat de M, Durham
Luis MacKinney, Raleigh
Peter Marin, Raleigh
Sol Ramírez, Carrboro
Miriam Sagasti, Chapel Hill
José Guadalupe Saldaña
Marcela Slade, Carrboro
Natalia Torres del Valle, Hillsborough
Erik Valera, Chapel Hill
Jorge Zuluaga, Durham
JANUARY - JULY 2022: Analog Visual by Dibkorma (Hallway Show)
JUNE 2022: IKORMA Musicons
MAY 2022: Orange County Artists Guild Spring Art Show
APRIL, 2022: HOME? An Artistic Exploration of Housing in the Triangle
The Orange County Arts Commission, in partnership with the Orange County Department of Housing and Community Development presented HOME? An Artistic Exploration of Housing in the Triangle, which sought to showcase “home” through the eyes and words of working artists.
The exhibit featured 100 works of art by 53 Triangle-based artists; 16 literary artists read works at the exhibit opening on April 1.
MARCH, 2022: Mary Ann Rozear: The Shapes of Memories
Featuring work by Eno Mill Studio Artist Mary Ann Rozear
Mary Ann is an award winning artist whose subject matter is as varied as her choice of medium. Whether using watercolors, acrylics, or oils, she strives to elicit an emotional response from the viewer with each painting. Mary Ann began painting in 2002 while living in Blowing Rock, NC, where she studied for six years with many master painters. She was most influenced by Mary Ann Beckwith, Gerald Brommer, and Skip Lawrence, whose philosophy was to encourage each student to paint in their own style. Mary Ann has developed her own unique approach to painting, believing that the enjoyment she gets during the process of painting translates to the finished piece. Mary Ann received the WWA Walter Garner Memorial Award in 2013 and the WWA Gail Henderson Memorial Award in 2014.
“The Shapes of Memories” showcases Mary Ann’s work over the last fifteen years. The title represents the way in which Mary Ann paints – not from photos or images, rather her memories of the places, people, and things she remembers and loves.
FEBRUARY, 2022: Kennedi Carter: Notes From a Rodeo: Ridin' Sucka Free, Revisited
Notes From a Rodeo: Ridin’ Sucka Free, Revisited
A photographic exploration of southern Black equestrians by Eno Arts Mill studio artist Kennedi Carter
A Durham, North Carolina native by way of Dallas Texas, Kennedi Carter is a photographer with a primary focus on Black subjects. Her work highlights the aesthetics & sociopolitical aspects of Black life as well as the overlooked beauties of the Black experience: skin, texture, trauma, peace, love and community. Her work aims to reinvent notions of creativity and confidence in the realm of Blackness. Kennedi’s clients include British Vogue, GQ, Vanity Fair, The Fader, Essence, The New York Times, Men’s Health, and TIME.
Ridin’ Sucka Free is an ongoing photographic exploration into the lives of Black southern equestrians. The American cowboy can be traced back to antebellum Texas, when westward traveling white colonists first encountered Mexican vaqueros and later appropriated their equestrian techniques. By the end of the Civil War in 1865, one-third of cowboys in existence were vaqueros and a quarter of them were Black. The systemic white-washing of American history is not an unfamiliar tale. Despite the fact African Americans, Native Americans, and Mexicans made up the majority of the cowboys that existed in the United States, their presence has been erased from contemporary Americana. While a majority of this project is centered around the everyday lives of the American cowboy, the work featured in Notes From A Rodeo was shot in a single night at the RCA Finals in Shreveport, Louisiana.
JANUARY, 2022: Austin Cathey: Not All Who Wander Are Lost
January, 2022
DECEMBER, 2021: Deck the Walls Annual Holiday Show
December, 2021Featuring works by members of the Orange County Artists Guild!
Featuring paintings, ceramics, fine crafts, and jewelry.
NOVEMBER, 2021: 5th Annual Paint it Orange Plein Air Paint-out & Wet Paint Sale
November, 2021
The Paint it Orange Plein Air Wet Paint Sale features 85 works of original fine art at affordable prices.
OCTOBER, 2021: Eno Arts Mill Grand Opening and Artist Preview Show
October, 2021
Photos by Nic Johnson
Click here to view photos of the Opening Reception Friday, October 1 featuring live music by XOXOK, food trucks Yagg Sii Tenn and Mr. Wingz & Mrs. Thingz and beverages by Starrlight Mead, Durty Bull Brewing, and BMC Brewing.
