SCATTER/STRUCTURE

04.03.2015-04.18.2015

Scatter/Structure is an exhibition of works by VCU’s Crafts/Material Studies Fountainhead Fellows Sarah Nance and Heather McCalla. Considerations of perception, interconnectedness and ephemerality are central to Nance’s work. Sarah’s installations and spatial drawings challenge the notion of fixed states of being, investigating the shifts between presence and non-presence. Often she uses light-responsive materials whose properties are only fully revealed when viewers experience the work through extended time and physical exploration. Heather McCalla’s current body of work explores the complex feelings and relationships associated with home and family. By utilizing recognizable domestic objects, as well as architectural forms and materials, McCalla attempts to exploit the connection to the human body that is inherent in these systems. 

Sarah Nance is an American artist working in installation, drawing and sculpture. Light occupies a central role in her work, as it is intimately related to considerations of perception, interconnectedness and ephemerality. In 2014, Nance presented at Third Culture Conversations, a conference bringing together artists and scientists whose research spans the crossover between the two investigative fields. She has also participated in artist residencies in Reykjavík and Skagaströnd, Iceland. Nance completed her MFA at the University of Oregon and is currently a Fountainhead Fellow in Craft & Material Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her work has been shown nationally and internationally, including exhibitions at Disjecta and The White Box in Portland, OR; Loft 594 in Brooklyn, NY; FrontierSpace in Missoula, MT and SÍM Gallery in Reykjavík, Iceland; with an upcoming show at TRUCK Gallery in Calgary, AB.

Heather McCalla is originally from San Diego, California, where she studied furniture design and woodworking while attending San Diego State University. She obtained her BA in Applied Design in 2006, and worked as a finish carpenter and independent designer for three years before moving to Wisconsin in 2010. McCalla received her MFA from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 2013, where she subsequently lectured in the furniture design and woodworking department before moving to Richmond. She is currently a Fountainhead Fellow in the Department of Craft an Material Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University.