Contemporary mixed media artist and sculptor, Pearl Renken is predominantly known for her contemporary approach in regenerating collected materials, and mixed media to create a stratified personal journey through her paintings, sculptures, and installations. Consistently evident in each layered creation is the dichotomous duality of maintaining a nostalgic appreciation of our past, juxtaposed with the pursuit to live in the present moment, and our simultaneous efforts to cultivate society’s future evolution.
Apparent in the emotional composition of sculptural work are - hoarded objects that were “too heavy to drag along, yet too precious to throw away.” In these works, you can find a multitude of memorabilia from yearbooks, childhood braces, a record player, or various other family heirlooms. To complement her sculptures, Renken’s tiered paintings are layered with inherited sheet music, and road maps from her grandparents’ bequest.
In the array of subjects and contemporary themes exhibited in her work, additionally prevalent is Renken’s aptitude to promote equality, love, and hope for humanity’s continuous progression of acceptance. Renken’s themes contrasted with a classical aesthetic gives her subjects their deserved place to exist in the world that has frequently strived to dismiss them. Renken began cultivating her insatiable intensity for the arts at an early age while growing up in Pensacola, FL, and eventually completing her master’s degree through the School of Museum of Fine Arts, at Tufts University in Boston. You can currently find her working at the Pearl Renken Studio, located in the River Arts District of Asheville, NC, where she also serves as chairperson on the board of directors.