When Bakersville artist Josh Brooke Coté was a kid, his constant companions were a pair of well-loved stuffed rabbits named Bunny and Peter. The trio went everywhere together: into the woods, to the local dump, even on cross-country road trips. But one day, Peter was accidentally left behind during a move. Coté never saw him again. “New bunnies came into my life,” the artist recalls on his website, “but Peter is forever lost.” Years later, Coté began crafting wire sculptures of rabbits — part tribute, part resurrection. Working with nothing but needle-nose pliers and recycled metal, he developed a painstaking technique of wrapping and weaving wire into animated forms. Coté’s latest work appears in the Enchanted Garden Art Show, an outdoor invitational at Grovewood Gallery where art and nature meet in delightful conversation. Also featured is Brevard sculptor J. Aaron Alderman, whose steel figures explore human emotion through posture and poise. “Whenever I am creating a new piece, I capture a moment in time that is charged with emotion,” he says. “I use this visceral, emotive, and emotional expression to begin to tell a story and shape the space the sculpture occupies.” The exhibition runs through early fall.
Enchanted Garden Art Show: June 14-September 21; Opening Reception: Saturday, June 14, 2-5pm
Grovewood Gallery / 111 Grovewood Rd., Asheville / grovewood.com