Image courtesy of the artist
From October 4-23, 2024, New City Arts presents Small Stories about a Woman Named Barbara, an exhibition of new work by Mimm Patterson.
The exhibit is a selection of encaustic photo collages created from both found and original photographs, text and found-object assemblage that attempt to describe small moments in the life of the artist’s mother—a woman named Barbara. “Artists are compelled to create in order to learn something about themselves and the connections they forge with the land, with family, with the objects they keep close,” Mimm shares. “My work explores the energetic imprint we leave behind and how that imprint becomes part of our collective human experience.”
New City Arts' Welcome Gallery
114 3rd St. NE, Charlottesville, VA 22902
First Friday Opening Reception
October 4 from 5-7:30PM; Artist talk at 6PM. Free and open to the public. All ages welcome. Exhibition opening sponsored by William Taylor and the Taylor Group of Truist Investment Services.
Gallery Hours
Wednesday-Saturday from 10AM-5PM
Exhibition Events
Small Stories: An Introduction to Guided Autobiography with Mimm Patterson | Oct. 5 from 1-3PM
Co-Working at Welcome Gallery | Oct. 9 from 10AM-5PM
New City Arts & Crafts | Oct. 22 from 10-11AM
Visitor Guide
Stepping into Welcome Gallery, visitors see Mimm Patterson’s encaustic photo collages installed in groups of varying size and arrangements. All of the work in this show is on the wall installed above four feet. Along the nearest wall, just to the viewer’s right, 21 small works are arranged in a large rectangular grid followed by a smaller grid of four larger works. Further into the gallery, along the same wall, two larger works are hung side by side followed by two square works, installed vertically. The works along this wall include depictions of ephemera, photographs, and textual elements that offer the viewer a glimpse into Mimm’s mother’s life. On the narrow wall near the back of the gallery, an arched portrait of Barbara holding a baby is framed in colorful stones and flanked by square works featuring images of a victory penny. Photographs of Mimm’s mother are also included into the row of four small square works hanging in the back of the gallery, each of which has the appearance of a paper weaving. On the other side of the gallery, near the front, viewers find a group of three square works, each with yellow edges and depicting pieces of mail found in Mimm’s mother’s home. Near the window, two large square works feature pieces of music, photographs, and what appears to be pieces of colorful paper. Between them, in a red frame wreathed by artificial flowers, is a portrait of Mimm’s mother overlaid onto another piece of music.
Please note: This exhibition explores Mimm Patterson’s relationship with her mother and touches on estrangement, reconciliation, and grief and loss.
Exhibition Statement
(noun) Mudlark
a person who scavenges in river mud for objects of value
I met my mother for the first time while digging through boxes filled with fragments of her life—photographs, relics, personal letters, notes she had written to herself.
A thirty-year estrangement prevented me from knowing my mother, Barbara Ann Roth. We had a few years together before she passed in 2019. Tasked with clearing the overstuffed, single-wide trailer in which she lived for almost fifty years, I found myself carefully mining the objects she left behind. I recognized myself in her story and came to understand how much we shared. The process brought me to a place of reconciliation and forgiveness.
The encaustic photo collages in this exhibit speak to a theme of latent connection. It is about the things we hold onto–the objects that have heart and meaning for us, that allow us to discover connection through space and time. The work explores how the energy we imprint onto these objects imbues the story of an individual’s life with a magical potency that connects the stories of all our lives.
I want to thank New City Arts Initiative and Welcome Gallery for the opportunity to exhibit this work and to tell Barbara’s story.
About the Artist
A recent transplant from the San Francisco Bay Area, Mimm Patterson is a re-emerging artist, a writer, and a yoga therapist now based in Crozet, Virginia. She holds a B.A. in art and a M.A. in transpersonal psychology. Mimm is a certified coach specializing in helping artists and writers shift creative blocks and a SoulCollage® and Guided Autobiography facilitator. In California Mimm was the director of education for the Pacific Art League in Palo Alto and later served as the president of its Board of Directors. In June of 2024 she completed a 12-month Incubator residency at McGuffey Art Center, where she is now an associate member. In addition to the greater Bay Area her work has been exhibited at McGuffey Art Center, Woman Made Gallery in Chicago and at Second Street Gallery in Charlottesville.
Located at 114 3rd St. NE on Charlottesville’s downtown pedestrian mall, New City Arts’ Welcome Gallery supports artists who live in the Charlottesville area. Welcome Gallery exhibitions and programs are made possible by generous sponsors, donors, and grants. Interested in sponsoring an exhibition? Connect with us!