When South Carolina-based painter and printmaker Mary Walker was five, she fell through a rabbit hole. Sort of. At the time, she and her parents lived with friends on Long Island. “Our section of the house was the old servants’ quarters, connected to the main house through a door at the bottom of the stairs,” Walker explains. One day, her mother led her through that door. On the other side was a stunning mahogany dining table, and beside it stood Alice — the doll-faced protagonist of Lewis Carroll’s feverishly dreamy novel. Of course, it wasn’t actually Alice — just a neighbor girl dressed up for Halloween. “But to a five-year-old, she was a vision that stepped right out of my storybook,” says Walker. “That was a moment I have never forgotten.” Today, that encounter inspires Walker’s black-and-white woodcuts, which feature vignettes of Wonderland. Magical and mysterious, these prints will debut at Upstairs Artspace in Tryon as part of a solo show aptly titled Scenes From Alice in Wonderland. The gallery will also present Like an Epiphany, a series of politicized icon paintings by South Carolina artist Kristi Ryba, and Concerning Being, a portfolio of abstract paintings by fellow South Carolina creative Lynne Riding.
All shows: March 30-May 24; Opening Reception: Saturday, April 6, 5-7pm
Upstairs Artspace / 49 South Trade St., Tryon