The Storm, Opening May 11

It started with “simple forgetfulness,” Asheville mixed-media artist Li Newton says of her mother Helene’s Alzheimer’s disease. But as the years wore on, “simple forgetfulness grew to complete erasure of all of her.” Witnessing the disease’s progression firsthand affected Newton deeply. “You are a total stranger to the person who birthed and raised you,” the artist says. “Where once was love is replaced by fear and distrust.” Newton unpacks these emotions in her latest piece, “Forgetting Herself.” The collage depicts a younger and older version of her mother in a flurry of mementos. “The younger Helene looks back at a darkening path made up of all the memorabilia [while] the elder Helene looks down in confusion, letters and language blowing around her,” says Newton. “That is the storm whipping through her brain, tossing everything meaningful aside [and] leaving her barren.” Newton will present the piece during The Storm, a group show happening at Trackside Studios this May. The exhibition is part of “Who Am I, Who Are We?,” a year-long project in which members of the River Arts District Artists riff on a monthly theme. For June, artists at Trackside will explore the motif “An Emergence.”