“Black Mountain College Alumna Returns" -
On Friday, January 24, the Black Mountain
College Museum + Arts Center welcomes a distinguished alumna, the
multi-talented Cynthia Homire, whose artistic work will be showcased in a new
exhibition entitled “Cynthia Homire: Vision Quest.”
The public is invited to the free opening
reception from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Museum, 56 Broadway, Asheville. The
exhibition, featuring Homire’s drawings, paintings, pottery and writings, will
be on display through May 17, 2014.
Now in her 80s, Homire retains the same
enthusiasm, liveliness, and creative spirit that have infused her life and art
since her student years at Black Mountain College.
In the introduction to Homire’s new
collection of poetry, entitled “Vision Quest,” which will be available for sale
at the Museum, Connie Bostic describes an early photo of the artist and poet as
a “most attractive . . . girl with the same look of freshness, buoyancy,
mischievousness and quiet curiosity found in the woman she is today.”
Attracted to the College’s avant-garde
reputation for artistic expression, Homire attended the College from 1950-1954,
and first studied with writers Charles Olson, M.C. Richards, and Robert
Creeley.
She recalled what Charles Olson said to his
students in class: “No one is writing. If you don’t write, don’t come to my
class.” When Homire showed him one of her first stories, he said, “You’ll be
good, if you’ll write one hundred more of these.”
Ever the explorer, Homire took a pottery
seminar at the College, and soon became enamored with the work of potters David
Weinrib and Karen Karnes, and was awarded a ceramics scholarship.
“Pottery became my life’s work,” Homire said
from her home in New Mexico.
In 1964, she and fellow BMC alumnus, the
painter Jorge Fick, married, and settled in Santa Fe. In 1972, they opened the
Fickery, where Homire crafted utilitarian stoneware that Fick glazed. Together,
they also held life drawing classes, until her vision began to fade.
Diagnosed with macular degeneration in 1990,
Homire’s creative spirit was undaunted. She continued to draw and write poetry,
always seeking a fresh perspective, and expressing it with clarity, truth, and
humor.
“Once, a friend of mine was having trouble
writing about the Grand Canyon,” Homire said. “So I wrote a piece claiming the
Grand Canyon didn’t exist and showed it to her. Well, that got her to write
that it certainly did exist.”
Asked how she keeps inspiration alive, Homire
said, “I’m inspired by something the artist Paul Klee said: ‘Take a line for a
walk.’ That’s what I do. I often go from room to room, thinking. I grab out
what is good about it, and work with that.”
In one of her poems, Homire writes:
I had a fine poem
this morning
I took it for a walk
as I usually do
It’s healthy for them
Walked it round a
cup of tea
A good breakfast
Green chili cheese grits
With an egg on top
Took it round the
Cleaning of dishes
Making of bed
Gathered up what
was needed for a walk to
the studio
Picked purslane along the
way, it’s truly abundant now.
Homire believes that the creative traditions
established at Black Mountain College should be encouraged and play a
significant part in everyone’s life.
“I’m glad the Museum carries on the message
that the teaching and practice of art is important. It can save the
world.”
By Myra Schoen
1/19/14
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