Smorgasbord 1 by Drew Turner

August 2-29, 2024
Smorgasbord 1 by Drew Turner
Opening reception: Friday, August 2, 5:00-9:00 PM
Gallery hours: Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM

This exhibition is twelve years in the making and came together from my past works and inspirations throughout those years. It is a portrait of my inspirational process and a look across the variety of objects that I have challenged myself to make (mostly in glass with a few ceramic pieces). I have always enjoyed leveraging my creative talents to make things that I like just because I like them. It is a very freeing feeling when you’re making what you want to make just because you want to make it. From my desire to craft chop sticks to eat sushi I love to my curiosity about glass dice for use in games, this exhibition displays some of my diverse interests and burning desire to turn them into art.

Drew Turner initially worked in clay, taking classes at Farragut High School, Mighty Mud Studios, and Pellissippi State with Jim Darrow. He has also taken classes in metalworking, including wire wrapping, soldering, and enameling. For the past ten years, Turner has worked with blowing glass, first at a small-scale production studio and later studying at Penland School of Crafts on multiple occasions. He also started flameworking and fusing glass around the same time. Additionally, he works with stained glass in panels, having studied at Fountain City Stained Glass. All the while, he has pursued Associate’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Engineering from Pellissippi State and Tennessee Technological University, respectively. Turner has always been curious about how the world works and making things with that knowledge.