Spartanburg Guild to exhibit Hammett and Warrington in January

“Diverse Expressions,” an exhibit featuring the art of Dian Hammett and Lalage Warrington, will open at the Artists’ Guild of Spartanburg Gallery in Chapman Cultural Center on Jan. 4 and continue through Jan. 29.

The exhibit will include paintings on canvas and paper by Hammett and an eclectic mix of three-dimensional works in a variety of materials including clay, plaster, and wax by Warrington.

Both artists describe their work in this exhibit as abstract. “My paintings are abstract expressions of the universal theme of searching, whether it be for material things such as food, shelter, and treasure or for the intrinsics of love, peace and security,” Hammett says of her work, which has evolved from the more representation art for which she had become known.

Warrington terms herself an “abstract expressionist,” citing as inspiration a quotation from William Faulkner, “The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which is life, by artificial means and hold it fixed so that a hundred years later, when a stranger looks at it, it moves again, since it is life.”

She has been commissioned to create more than 25 portrait busts and has also used her skills to complete forensic reconstruction of the soft tissue of the skull, work that led to the presentation of several papers on facial reconstruction to the American Academy of Forensic Scientists.

“My art reflects my love for music in its rhythmic continuity, repetition and message,” says Warrington of her desire to lead the viewer to follow the motion of a piece. “It is a visual expression using form, line, negative space, and balance – all working together within a given space to create a song.”

Hammett took her creative inspiration from her mother, an accomplished seamstress who filled their home with beautiful fabric, fine laces, and colorful yarns. “These imbued my life with a love of color and nature,” says the artist whose paintings have been included in juried exhibitions throughout the United States and in an invitational exhibition in Paris, France. “The excitement of painting comes from a spontaneous experimentation with a visual language resulting in a blending of heart, mind and soul.”

A native of Camden and a graduate of Columbia College, Hammett taught history at Dorman High School before relocating with her husband Lamar to Georgetown, where she continued to teach and became a part of the Georgetown art community. She and her husband have recently returned to the Upstate, and having retired after 28 years in education, she is now a full-time artist. In addition to being a member of the Artists’ Guild, she is a Member of Excellence of the South Carolina Watermedia Society, and the Southeastern Pastel Society.

Warrington holds a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, worked as a visiting artist and adjunct profession at Converse College, and taught classes in basic techniques of sculpture for the Spartanburg County Museum of Art (now Spartanburg Art Museum) and Tryon Painters and Sculptors.

An artists’ reception that is free and open to the public will be held during ArtWalk, Jan. 21,  5-8 p.m.