Limestone Almanac
Billy Dee, Ayla Gizlice, Jasper Lee
May 13, 2022 - June 30, 2022
Limestone Almanac features citizen-artists Billy Dee (NC/Canada), Ayla Gizlice (NC/Turkey), and Jasper Lee (AL). Inspired by limestone, a sedimentary rock that forms the fabricated contemporary landscape above and the rainwater-carved network of caves below, this exhibition acknowledges the damaged relationships with the land, community, and the self; it calls upon the lost, found, and imagined practices of a culture of connection and restorative actions. Through an arrangement of sculptural installation, fiber work, and digital means, these artists engage with sustainable social practices: ecological, abolitionist, or folkloric. Embodied materials and ideational technologies become mediators for speculative community-building. Situated within the subterranean art space, isolated echoes are felt; the breeze near wind chimes, the breath behind chants, the heat of sun-baked clay, the sharpness of fishbones, or the pulling of a stitch. Together, the Limestone Almanac takes form as chips of lucidity, marking the waxing moon days of planning, preparation, and cultivation till the syzygy season; to the upheaval of parasitic power structures and destructive operations.
Exhibiting Artists
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Billy Dee
I am curious about the embodied energies and histories contained within materials. As I work with paper, textiles, and other found or discarded objects, I am equally interested in-process and final outcome. I explore quilt-making as a process of collective meaning-making. In my desire to uplift this art form, I research the use of the quilt as an abolitionist technology, and as a site of coded language within the Underground Railroad. As a white (prison) abolitionist, I am curious about how to engage these histories of resistance with humility and respect. At the center of my practice is relationship. All of my work is, in some way, collaborative. My fundamental desire as an artist is to access and create sites of generative transformation and connection which embody an ethical practice rooted in collective liberation.
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Ayla Gizlice
Ayla Gizlice is a multimedia artist based in Raleigh, North Carolina. She holds a B.S. in environmental science and a B.A. in studio art from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and her work often explores local and global environmental issues. She works primarily in sculpture and installation but enjoys using text and photography to provide context.
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Jasper Lee
Jasper Lee is a musician and artist from central Alabama. His work in video, sound and installation explores these mediums as tools for building community, creating ritual and engaging with folklore. His work in film has included composing scores for feature films, directing music videos and creating art films that have screened at festivals internationally. He is also a performer and organizer in the experimental music scene of Birmingham, AL where he curates the music label Sweet Wreath.