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Fowlkes’ self portraits to grace gallery
By Lynn Hotaling
A local artist who achieved national recognition five years ago will exhibit her photographs in Sylva during September.
LeAnne Fowlkes, a 2001 Smoky Mountain High School graduate who earned an art degree in May from the University of North Carolina at Asheville, will exhibit a collection of self portraits at It’s by Nature gallery on Main Street. The show, titled “Grace: A Self Portrait,” will open with a Friday, Sept. 1, reception from 7 to 9 p.m.
Fowlkes took up photography for her SMHS senior project. One of her photos from that series was a regional winner in the Scholastic Art Awards and was displayed in New York. After learning photography basics in high school, Fowlkes honed her skills in college, majoring in art with a concentration in photography.
Her local exhibit will be her second solo show and is an outgrowth of her UNC-A senior exhibit. All 14 images are self portraits taken with film. She decided to do the series as a means of self-reflection on the eve of her college graduation, she said.
“The show’s about the spontaneity of everyday life,” she said. “You have limited control as a photographer – it’s about seeing what happens. I hope others can connect with the visual metaphors.”
Most of her other photography experience has been documentary – taking pictures of others – and she was ready to try a different approach, she said.
Photographer LeAnne Fowlkes of Sylva, a recent graduate of the University of North Carolina at Asheville, will exhibit a series of black-and-white self portraits at It’s by Nature gallery on Main Street. The show opens with a Friday, Sept. 1, reception from 7 until 9 p.m.
Six of the pieces were taken in water, either in a pool or a hot spring. To capture those images, Fowlkes set the camera’s timer before submerging herself. In the portraits, Fowlkes, a dancer for 12 years, interacts and dances with lengths of sheer fabric.
Sylva photographer Terri Clark advised on the project.
“I was trying something totally new, and I thought it would be good to have someone more experienced to offer advice,” she said.
The exhibit will continue at It’s by Nature, which is open Tuesday-Saturday from 10:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m., through Tuesday, Oct. 3. For more information, call 631-3020.
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