A new exhibition entitled “Two Headed Diver: Lynne Hobaica & Rickie Barnett” has opened at the Blowing Rock Art & History Museum (BRAHM). It will be on view through November 2, 2024, in the Museum’s Schaefer Gallery.
“Two Headed Diver: Lynn Hobaica and Rickie Barnett” consists of works by the individual artists as well as pieces from their collaborative project, “Two Headed Diver.”
Their characters—often simultaneously fantastic and mundane—display a unique sense of wonder with the world. When Hobaica and Barnett’s sensibilities are brought together in a single object, their intuitive and deeply collaborative approach demonstrates humor and empathy.
Hobaica’s work utilizes recurring patterns and decorative elements to elevate seemingly humble or alien subjects—chihuahuas, birds, and antlered beasts. Gauzy glazes and sheer fabrics shroud her characters in a fog that reinforces an almost mythological interpretation. Working in both ceramic and textile, Hobaica’s compositions prioritize the inexplicability of the human experience.
Barnett’s figurative sculptures, while less ambiguous in their surface treatment, are just as wonderfully confounding. Often rendered in gravity-defying arrangements or seemingly comical isolation, the characters populating his tableaus represent the lessons of folktales and a life lived in all its comedy and trauma.
“As an aspiring potter this exhibition is intriguing to me,” Stephan Dragisic, BRAHM’s Teresa & Don Caine Executive Director, said. “While I find the execution of work to be fascinating, I think visitors will fall in love with the objects themselves. The artists’ excitation of facial expressions on the subject is absolutely magical.”
About BRAHM
The 25,000-square-foot Blowing Rock Art and History Museum, known as BRAHM, opened its doors on October 1, 2011. Located off Main Street in Blowing Rock, North Carolina, BRAHM provides cultural enrichment by promoting the arts and Southern Appalachian heritage and history, through educational programs, exhibitions, and activities. The permanent collection of more than 600 objects includes works by Elliott Daingerfield, Maud Gatewood, Elizabeth Bradford, Mark Hewitt, and other American impressionist and post-impressionist artists. Open year-round, 24,000 visitors are welcomed free of charge to experience 25 changing exhibitions. BRAHM also has an outreach education program that encourages arts education in local schools, daycares, and senior centers.
BRAHM is open to the public, free of charge, Tuesdays–Saturdays 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursdays 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and May 1 through October 31, Sundays 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, visit BlowingRockMuseum.org or call 828-295-9099.
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