“Parting Lines” to open at GCCA’s Main Gallery

Exhibition opens First Friday, October 6th, 2023

Greenville Center for Creative Arts (GCCA) is excited to announce the opening of their Main Gallery exhibition, Parting Lines. The exhibition features the artwork of acclaimed artists TeaYoun Kim-Kassor, Mayuko Ono Gray, and Sabre Esler. GCCA will hold the opening reception on Friday, October 6th from 6-9 PM and continues on display until Wednesday, November 22nd, 2023. During the opening reception CEO, Jess Burgess, will give opening remarks for the exhibition. GCCA’s Main Gallery exhibition Parting Lines is generously supported by media sponsor Vive.

In Parting Lines, artists TeaYoun Kim-Kassor, Mayuko Ono Gray, and Sabre Esler explore common threads of human existence, memory, and identity through varying representations of lines, whether explicit or implied. Featuring over 30 intricate drawings, paintings, and silk works, Parting Lines invites us to consider the power of diverse perspectives converging on a shared exploration of what it means to be human.

TeaYoun Kim-Kassor’s installation series, “Modulation,” delves into the concept of identity and questions the interplay between personal history and migration. Her work speaks to the universal human experience of grappling with questions like “Who am I?” and “Where am I?” as we navigate life’s complexities. Sabre Esler’s art takes a markedly scientific approach, probing the invisible constructs of thoughts. Esler uses color theory to represent abstract ideas. Her “what if” hypotheses serve as a bridge between art and science, resonating with the exhibition’s theme of exploring uncharted territories of the human condition. Mayuko Ono Gray’s graphite drawings offer a unique blend of cultural influences, seamlessly merging traditional Japanese calligraphy with Western drawing practices. Ono Gray’s works capture everyday life experiences and incorporate matching Japanese proverbs, intricately woven into a single, continuous line of hiragana and kanji characters. The calligraphic line symbolizes the journey of life, from birth to death, echoing the overarching theme of the exhibition.

Mayuko Ono Gray

Mayuko Ono Gray is an artist based in Houston, TX whose primary medium is graphite drawing. Born in Gifu, Japan, she was trained in traditional Japanese calligraphy in her youth and later studied classical Western drawing. Ono Gray moved to the United States following high school and went on to receive an MFA in painting from the University of Houston in 2007. Her work has been exhibited extensively in the United States and abroad, including exhibitions in Japan, Mexico, Germany, Italy, UK, and Greece. Ono Gray is the former Gallery Director and adjunct faculty at College of the Mainland, Texas City, TX. Gray served as an Instructor at the Glassell School of Art in Houston, TX in 2022. Her works are represented by Hooks-Epstein galleries in Houston, TX and Galeria 910 in Oaxaca, Mexico.

TeaYoun Kim-Kassor

TeaYoun Kim-Kassor is originally from South Korea, where she received her B.F.A. in Fine Arts at Sungshin Women’s University in Seoul. She continued her research in Art Education as the Japanese equivalent of a Fulbright Scholar at Saitama University in Japan, where she earned a Master of Art Education (MAAE). In America, Kim-Kassor continued her exploration of arts in the Terminal Degree in visual arts, M.F.A. program at the University of Tennessee, focusing on Spatial Practice. Currently, she is a Professor and Department Chair of the Foundation Program at Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA, U.S.
TeaYoun has been a very active artist having numerous exhibitions, including at the Korean Cultural Center – Embassy of the Republic of Korea, Washington DC, University of South Carolina Beaufort, SC, Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia (MoCA), GA, The Alabama Contemporary Art Center, Mobile, AL, Venice Printmaking Studio in Murano Italy, La Macina di San Cresci in Florence, Italy, Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn, NY, Montana State University Gallery in Bozeman, MT, Maryville College Gallery in Maryville, TN, Black-box Theatre in Milledgeville, GA, Folklore Museum in Sendai, Japan and many more. Her artwork has been supported by the Folklore Museum in Sendai, Japan, the National Performance Network (supported by the Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts, the Joan Mitchell Foundation, and the Nathan Cummings Foundation), CESTA in Tabor, Czech Republic, and Can Serrat in Barcelona, Spain.

Sabre Esler

Sabre Esler (b. Cleveland, OH) lives and works in Atlanta Georgia. She received her MFA from SCAD, Atlanta and she received her BFA from Miami University, Oxford OH where she studied graphic design, illustration and biology. Esler has exhibited in New York, Charleston, Knoxville, Boston, Connecticut, Atlanta, Nashville and Miami, and museums such as Miami University, SCAD Museum of Art, Alexandria Museum, Valdosta State Museum, Oglethorpe University, Agnes Scott College, and Georgia State University as well as Chastain Art Center, and Glynn Visual Arts Center and SCOPE and Aqua during Art Miami. She is currently a studio artist at Atlanta Contemporary. Esler has taught at Georgia State University, Perimeter College and SCAD. She is represented by Jennifer Balcos Gallery, Atlanta GA. Her work can be found in the permanent collections of Tufts University, Miami University, Georgia State University Perimeter College, The Federal Reserve Bank, Fulton County Arts Council, City of Atlanta, and corporate collections of Acoustic, AdvantEdge Executive Offices, Atlantic Capital Bank, Boston Consulting Group, Boardwalk Inn at Wild Dunes, Cognia, Crowell & Moring, Fieldpoint Private Bank & Trust, Georgian Bank, Hilton Hotels, Hyatt Hotels, Oglethorpe Bank, Preferred Office, Reaction 35, Ritz Carlton, SunTrust Bank, The Lofts at Capitol Quarters, Trammel Crow to name a few. Collectors throughout the United States and internationally have been collecting her work since 1995.

About GCCA

Greenville Center for Creative Arts is a non-profit organization that aims to enrich the cultural fabric of the community through visual arts promotion, education, and inspiration. GCCA’s galleries are open Tuesdays-Fridays from 9am – 5pm & Saturdays from 11am-3pm. For more information, visit www.artcentergreenville.org, call 864-735-3948, or check out GCCA on Facebook (Greenville Center for Creative Arts) & Instagram (@artcentergvl).