The exhibition explores the work of three artists who are looking at nautical elements and marine tools as well as repetitive patterning in nature to tell compelling stories. Featuring new work including two site-specific installations, Echo Sounding includes kinetic sculpture, felt assemblages and exquisitely rendered drawings and photographs all focused on our fascination with the sea and its inhabitants.  Miller’s large-scale felt assemblages are comprised of repeated shapes from historic and contemporary culture; taken out of their typical context, the artist uses them to present a new storyline.  Eum’s kinetic sculptures transport the viewer to the seas, using the shadows of paper-based materials to create an immersive experience.  May’s detailed charcoal drawings unravel rope into organic forms, deconstructing a basic piece of nautical gear.  Miller received her BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, and her MFA from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.  Eum earned her BFA and MFA from Sookmyung Women’s University, Seoul, Korea, before receiving her MFA in Craft and Material Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia.  May studied at the Shuler School of Fine Arts in Baltimore, Maryland, before earning her BFA and MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts.  May’s work is courtesy of Katharine T. Carter & Associates.  All three artists have exhibited throughout North America.

2013 Frances Niederer Artist-in-Residence Dan Estabrook is a leading expert on 19th century photographic processes. In recent years, Estabrook has added pencil and paint to his negatives and prints to create contemporary work that explores universal themes such as love, sexuality, and death.  Estabrook attended Harvard University and earned his MFA from the University of Illinois.  In 1994, he received an Artist’s Fellowship from the National Endowment of the Arts.  The Frances Niederer Artist-in-Residence program allows Hollins University to bring a nationally recognized artist to campus every year.  While in residence, the artist creates work in a campus studio and teaches an art seminar open to all students. During their time at Hollins University, the Artist-in-Residence is a vital part of the campus and greater Roanoke community.

While many Americans think of immigration in terms of recent politics, Tanja Softić focuses on human migration in a global sense.  Using innovative printmaking techniques, Softić investigates national identity and feelings of exile through richly layered large-scale works.  Merging appropriated visual material within her drawings and paintings, the artist addresses concepts of cultural hybridity, chaos, and memory.  Softić earned her MFA in Printmaking from Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, following study at the Academy of Fine Arts of the University of Sarajevo.  She received the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant in 2009 and her work is included in collections worldwide.