The Lyon College Kresge Gallery will showcase the work of mixed media ceramic artist Kimberly Riner, visual arts director for the Averitt Center for the Arts in Statesboro, Ga., from Tuesday, Aug. 22, through Friday, Sept. 22, in the historic Alphin Humanities Building on the Lyon College campus, 2300 Highland Rd., Batesville.
The gallery will have a reception and artist talk on Thursday, Sept. 21, from 5-6:30 p.m.. The event is free and open to the public.
In “Fleeting Time,” Riner recreates the vanitas genre – a genre that flourished in the Netherlands in the late 16th and early 17th centuries as a metaphor for the meaninglessness of earthly life and transient nature of earthly goods and pursuits. Translated from the Latin word meaning vanity, hallmarks of this artistic genre include depicting symbols associated with death and the futility of earthly pleasures. Employing classical iconography, such as skulls, timepieces, fruit, and flowers in contemporary fashion, Riner comments on 21st-century vanitas to allude to the transient and cyclical nature of life, death, and rebirth.
Riner received her Master of Fine Arts from Georgia Southern University in 3D art with an emphasis in ceramics. She currently holds faculty positions at Georgia Southern University and Ogeechee Technical College.
Riner is actively involved in growing the art scene in the Statesboro area where she has worked with ArtsFest, Summer Studios, and Creative Art Studio. Most recently, she opened the Averitt Center’s new visual arts facility: The Roxie Remley Center for Fine Arts.
Her artwork has been exhibited both nationally and internationally and is held in private collections. Exhibition venues include Mason City, Iowa; Atlanta, Ga.; North Charleston, S.C; Lake City, S.C.; Fort Myers, Florida; and Sheffield, England, UK.
Riner lives in Statesboro with her husband, Richard, and twin daughters, Olivia and Alannah.
Kresge Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays. Admission is free.
Featured image: Transience, a piece by artist Kimberly Riser
“Allegory of a Still Life,” Kimberly Riner
