Image: Aaron Wilder, The Art World: The Broad 1 (Reflecting on Glenn Ligon’s “Double America 2”), Black Vinyl on Antique Mirror, 25.25x35.25", 2021

December 2-31, 2022

Opening Reception: Friday, December 2, 5:00pm-9:00pm ($40 tickets can be purchased here)

 

The Roswell Museum

1011 North Richardson Avenue

Roswell, NM 88201

The Roswell Museum and and the Pecos Valley Potters Guild invite you to step into a world of creative wonder this holiday season at the second annual Holiday Artisan Market. Held at the Roswell Museum, this opportunity to shop for distinctive, one-of-a-kind gifts will run from December 3 to 31 with an opening night party on December 2. 

Sale proceeds will be split between the artist and the RMAC Foundation, which helps sustain the regional arts community as well as Museum projects and programs. Proceeds from opening night ticket sales and a silent auction will also support the RMAC Foundation. The silent auction will begin opening night at 5 p.m. on December 2. Bidders will be able to access the auction throughout the weekend via their mobile phones. The silent auction will end Sunday, December 4 at 5 p.m. 

Treasures from over 30 artists based in New Mexico have been carefully selected to provide a unique, high-quality shopping experience. Fine art and functional items will include ceramics, glass, fiber arts, photography, prints, paintings, jewelry and more.

The event kicks off on Friday, December 2 with a "Party with the Artists" Opening Night from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. Members of the Roswell Symphony Orchestra will set the ambiance, performing a selection of holiday music throughout the evening. Hors d’oeuvres catered by chef Melinda Creamer and an open bar of signature seasonal cocktails, beer and wine from Pepper’s will be available for your enjoyment. Tickets for the Opening Night are $40 and may be purchased online, in person at the museum during open hours 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, or at the door.

The show and sale will be open to the general public December 3 through 31 and follows museum hours, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, with the exception of Holiday Hours of 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday, December 23 and closed December 24-26. Visiting the Artisan Market is free to all although regular admission still applies to the remaining galleries.   

The 2022 Artists are:

Alfred Arias (Roswell, NM), Geneva Bailey (Roswell, NM), Fatima Barnes (Roswell, NM), Nancy Bowles (Roswell, NM), Koni Carpenter (Roswell, NM), Ann Carson (Roswell, NM), Nancy Cervenka (Mountainair, NM), Justine Crowley (Roswell, NM), Wanda Dent (Roswell, NM), Julie England (Dallas, TX), Erica Entrop (Roswell, NM), Aria Finch (Roswell, NM), Nola Fulkerson (Roswell, NM), Jerry Longbotham (Capitan, NM), Delfie Martinez (Albuquerque, NM), Kelly Moran (Tinnie, NM), Judy Pekelsma (Carrizozo, NM), Barbara Posuniak (Roswell, NM), Deb Prince (Roswell, NM), Alan Paine Radebaugh (Albuquerque, NM), Tasia Ramage (Roswell, NM), Janina Stangebye (Roswell, NM), Pam Stovall (Roswell, NM), John Thomas (Roswell, NM), Hilda Appel Volkin (Albuquerque, NM), Valli West (Roswell, NM), Aaron Wilder (Roswell, NM), Holly Woelber (Belen, NM).

Works from multiple projects by Aaron Wilder are included in the Holiday Artisan Market:

The Art World: The hallowed walls of the white cube art world are elevated and exclusive. They are protected by a barrier of theory and jargon the vast majority of human beings can't and won't understand. The Art World is a project documenting Aaron Wilder's journey into this world in 2015 when he moved to San Francisco in 2015 to pursue an MFA degree at the San Francisco Art Institute. Wilder sought to encounter and photograph human beings encountering art in the hallowed institutions of the art world and to investigate a variety of encounters between individuals and art, whether it be performance, painting, or other types of artistic expression. Most recently, Wilder has experimented with rendering the 35mm black and white film photographs from this project into monochromatic vinyl at either end of the grayscale spectrum and adhering these vinyls to the surfaces of ornate, antique mirrors.

End Water?: Having grown up in the desert of southern Arizona, Aaron Wilder is no stranger to water scarcity. He moved to California in 2015 in the midst of the most impactful drought in the state's history since 1895. Since farms in California consume 80% of water used by humans in the state, Wilder was drawn to the farming industry to document what he could witness of the drought's impact. This body of work represents what Wilder documented in the Central Valley, an area covering 20,000 square miles, containing approximately 17% of the United States' irrigated land, and producing more than 250 types of crops. Through this limited photographic investigation, Wilder seeks to generate dialogue about our relationship to water and commodities we consume that rely on water. How much of the impact of the drought on the farming industry can actually be seen in these photographs? When farmers feel forced to fallow land that could be productive in times of better water availability, what are the broader economic impacts on labor, commodity prices, and import/export? What is our responsibility as consumers of water and agricultural commodities in times of drought? Is there parity between water conservation efforts between urban and rural environments? Given the trends of climate change and the unsustainable population growth in comparison to water availability, how can we best adjust as human beings to the potentiality of greater water scarcity in the future?

Extricated: This is a digital mixed media project layering photographs from the aftermath of Aaron Wilder's 2003 car accident on top of distorted television emergency broadcast signals. Due to a head injury resulting from the accident, his biological function of remembering has since been unreliable to the point where it becomes difficult to distinguish between memory's relation to fact and memory's relation to fiction. Just as Wilder was extricated from that automobile in 2003, each attempt to disentangle his brain's own remembering functionality is an attempted extrication of reality from his flawed recollection.

Le Monde: These are mixed media sketches combining ink, pencil, and pastel to depict a distorted version of world flags.

Social Boundaries: This is a photography project investigating physical barriers, such as bars on doors and windows. The photographs were taken during performative walks along both sides of urban neighborhood boundaries. While walking, Aaron Wilder reflects upon the stimuli of these metal bars. They are more than just perceived visually. Some directly block his movement. These kinds of structures impact the movement of many people daily, some subtly, some profoundly. They also conceptually represent interpersonal barriers in the walk of life. This series is an inquiry into both the literal and symbolic function of these barriers and their relationship to changing urban landscapes and the social interactions therein. Wilder's approach to this Social Boundaries project aims to observe and reflect upon the rapid social, cultural, and economic changes occurring in cities. Through this project he seeks to draw attention to this crisis to highlight the complexities of underlying issues.

Where is Home?: This is a series of black and white 120 film photographs (shot on a Holga) depicting buildings and other aspects of physical geography from Aaron Wilder's past that used to hold meaning for him but now feel distant. By photographing areas where Wilder lived, worked, and went to school years after his attachment to those structures has faded away, he seeks to invoke feelings forgotten and memories blurred. In many cases, these spaces are no longer recognizable between what Wilder remembers and the photograph. Usually, a photograph is expected to serve as a supplement to encourage remembering, but that only works if the photograph depicts what you remember, not how the space is now. For Wilder, this project calls into question the attachment to physical geography as a notion of home. Is home somewhere you were born? Somewhere you grew up? Somewhere you went to school? Somewhere your family currently lives? Somewhere you currently reside? All of the above? None of the above?