Hand Over Matter, Opening May 24

Most young people dye their hair or listen to loud music when confronted with existential unknowns. But Asheville ceramic artist Robert Milnes isn’t most people. When faced with big questions like “What is my purpose?” and “What will I do with my life?” in his younger years, he turned to Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, a book by 20th-century philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. “… It was his writings that enabled me to be an artist,” says Milnes, who today describes himself as a “material-based sculptor with an ongoing list of questions about objects, ideas, and expressions.” As an ode to Wittgenstein, Milnes has created a series of abstract sculptures that incorporate propositions from the book. These pieces of wisdom range from “The world is all that is the case” to “What we cannot speak about we must pass over in silence.” The artwork will debut later this month at the Folk Art Center as part of Hand Over Matter. The group exhibition will also feature Billy Bernstein, working in glass; Christine Smith, working in wood; Tamela Wells, working in jewelry; and Pam Granger Gale, working in fiber.