Laura McRae Hitchcock: Whispers from The Roots and the River

May 2-30, 2025
Laura McRae Hitchcock: Whispers from The Roots and the River
Opening reception: Friday, May 2, 5:00-9:00 PM
Gallery hours: Mon-Fri 9-5; Sat (May 3 and 10 only), 10-1. Closed on Mon May 26 for the holiday.
Additional hours: Thu May 8, 5-7 PM (Gallery 1010 opening)

Artist Statement: The woods were my first sanctuary. As a child, I listened to the wind rustling through trees, gathered moss and acorns into imagined enclaves, and learned that nature speaks—softly, in whispers—if you’re quiet enough to hear it. Those early moments still live in my work: the hush beneath branches, the shimmer of light across water, the mystery that lingers between root  and river.

This body of work springs from those quiet places… “Whispers from the Root and the River” explores the spirit of the natural world and our deep, often forgotten connection to it. It is a visual meditation on the places where the natural and the numinous intertwine.

The paintings—whether abstract or more recognizable landscapes—speak to the same themes of emergence, stillness, and spirit. Water glimmers, hills rise like breath, color moves as wind through leaves and stones. These images are not only of place, but of feeling—what it is to belong to the land, to listen, to be called back.

Alongside these paintings stand small, mixed media sculptures, figures of the land itself—made of gathered sticks, wool, fabric, and clay. I build them from natural materials as if the woods whispered their stories into being. Their bodies are wrapped in white cloth inscribed with blessings of self-love and sovereignty, their faces shaped from felt or clay, their bones branches, their presence somewhere between spirit and soil. Each sculpture carries the energy of the land—the wild feminine, the rooted memory, the quiet voice that calls us inward. They are totems of the forest, water spirits, silent storytellers. Together with the paintings, they offer not just a view of the landscape, but an invitation to remember that we, too, are part of it.

This work asks us to listen to the whispers of the root and river that speak in rustle and ripple, in shadow and bloom. It is an invitation: to wander inward, to root down, to follow the thread of the river within to return to the places—inner and outer—where we feel most alive, most held, most whole — to remember who we are, the child within, and a calling to come home.

Artist Bio: Laura McRae Hitchcock is a painter and mixed media artist whose work is rooted in memory, nature, and the unseen forces that shape our inner landscapes. She holds a degree in art from Agnes Scott College and has spent years exploring the connection between creativity, spirit, and place. Her recent work explores the relationship between landscape painting and sculpture, using felted wool, branches, and fabric inscribed with hand-written blessings to create figures that embody the spirit of the woods and the wisdom of the wild feminine. Laura is the co-founder of Wild Hair Adventures Art Retreats, and her art has been exhibited in solo and juried shows nationwide and in Europe. She is a member of the National Association of Women Artists and its South Carolina chapter. Recently, she moved from the Lowcountry of South Carolina to the foothills of the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee, where she finds great joy being  surrounded by rolling mist, the hush of old trees, and the whispers of the mountains.

https://www.LauraMcRaeHitchcock.com | Instagram @lmcraehitchcock | https://wildhairartretreats.com | https://www.facebook.com/LauraMcRaeHitchcockFineArt