Opening Reception at Castell Photography THIS Friday!

Castell Photography is pleased to announce the opening of their newest exhibition, Studies, which will feature the work of Asheville artist Honour Hiers and Wisconsin artist Wanrudee Buranakorn. Hiers creates stunning large-scale color studies of the physical nature of botanical specimens, and Buranakorn's work consists of incorporeal figure studies that are truly a view into the internal and otherworldly.


Originally from Thailand, Buranakorn is an Assistant Professor of Art at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Her work employs varieties of alternative printing processes in addition to traditional gelatin silver prints and digital. She recently mounted a mid-career retrospective exhibition in Thailand, and has exhibited extensively throughout the U.S. in a number of galleries and museums. When speaking about this series of deeply personal figurative work the artist states, "As love grows, passion fades. My body protests against the natural force of the unfortunate love cycle. My soul longs for passionate love, begging it not to pass. These images express desire and melancholy as intimacy wanes. Farewell to love.”

Hiers is an Asheville-based photographer who, after earning a BFA in photography from UNC Charlotte, opened a wedding and portrait studio, and currently travels the Southeast for assignments and commissions. Outside of commission-based work, Hiers collects botanical specimens, photographing them with a 4x5 large format camera on a light table in her studio. The results are large-scale pigment prints, documenting the luminous and transparent beauty of local plant life. Hiers says she hopes her work will “inspire and enlighten... document the uniqueness and mystique [of the specimens]... and remind us of the beauty which is present around us.”

Gallery owner Brie Castell states: “It’s exciting to pair these two artists for our first opening of 2011. Their work is so vastly different, yet comes together through this idea and action, to study. Two opposite subjects are represented, but both are thoughtful, meticulous, and emotional examinations of the internal and ethereal.”

The opening reception for Studies will be Friday, February 18th from 5 to 8 p.m. Both artists will be in attendance to meet guests, answer questions about their work, and enjoy the event. Light hors d’oeuvres and wine will be provided. The show will remain on exhibit through March 26th.