Liminal Light: 11 WNC Artists Brighten Winter With Dazzling Craft Exhibition

​What do you make when the lights go out? For eleven Western North Carolina artists, the answer is everything on view in Liminal Light: Winter’s Vigil, the latest virtual craft exhibition at ArtsvilleUSA.

Curated alongside arts writer and former New York gallerist Kirsten Bengtson-Lykoudis, the show brings together luminous fine craft, from glow-in-the-dark goblets and golden baskets to paper lamps and jewelry that captures the sun’s celestial warmth. Each piece is made by hand, small beacons guiding us through a lingering winter.

Scroll through to learn more about the artists in the show, then tap the button below to view Liminal Light: Winter’s Vigil.

Angelique Tassistro

Angelique Tassistro is an Asheville-based ceramic artist renowned for her signature "layered underglaze" technique, which produces vibrantly colorful surfaces on functional pottery. Her work balances playful aesthetics with sculptural form, bringing architecturally-influenced shapes to life with dynamic lines and rich color. In Liminal Light, Angelique presents “Candle Holders in Confetti,” a ceramic piece that embodies her signature approach to color and light.

Erin Keane

Asheville-based artist Erin Keane blends photography with encaustic beeswax to capture what she calls "the elasticity of light." Using intentional camera movement through forests and landscapes, Erin creates ethereal abstractions that blur color and form into luminous compositions. Her works in Liminal Light—“Luminary” and “Moonbathing at Dusk”—exemplify her signature technique of layering photographic images with warm beeswax to achieve a soft, glowing aesthetic. View more of Erin's work in our 2025 spring exhibition, Reawakening.

Gertrude Graham Smith

North Carolina studio potter Gertrude Graham Smith creates functional, whimsical porcelain pieces single-fired in a soda kiln near Penland School of Craft. Her work appears in collections including the Mint Museum and Taiwan's Yingge Museum. In Liminal Light, Gertrude presents "Candelabrum, Amber and Turquoise" and "Dancing Candlesticks, Pair," pieces reflecting her passion for "making objects that bring more light into our world."

Julie Merrill

Asheville-based metalsmith Julie Merrill has been forging mixed metal jewelry since 2003, creating what she describes as "ancient yet contemporary designs." Working with steel, silver, brass, bronze, and copper, she finds it "empowering and humbling to form and shape" these materials into new life. Her pieces in Liminal Light—"Sun Cuff" and "Roots from the Sky"—both explore the sun as a symbol of strength and connection to the natural world.

Katie Knorovsky

Katie Knorovsky is a fiber artist in West Asheville whose round weavings are inspired by the natural world: flowers that catch her eye, the feeling of being immersed in the forest, the ephemeral beauty of the morning sky. Weaving is her "daily ritual—a meditation, a prayer, an antidote to doomscrolling." Her work in Liminal Light includes "Tornado Warning," inspired by "an eerily beautiful sky that followed a tornado warning, and the awe the sight inspired in my young son."

Kenny Pieper

North Carolina glassblower Kenny Pieper has spent over 45 years perfecting his craft in the Italian tradition. "My work is a celebration of traditional techniques, opulent colors, and classical forms," he says. His pieces appear in collections at the Corning Museum of Glass and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. In Liminal Light, Kenny presents "Fluorescent Cane Goblets" and "Fluorescent Cane Bridal Anniversary Goblets," luminous works that glow under black light or when charged and taken into darkness. View more of Kenny’s enchanting glasswork in Artsville’s 2025 summer exhibition, Returning to the Ridge.

Leah Baker

Leah Baker transforms nature's fleeting magic into functional art. Since 2013, she has crafted distinctive lamps at her Weaverville, NC, studio, Luminosa Lighting, inside Artisans on Main. Her "Appalachian Forest Series: Sourwood Leaves Autumn Ferns" captures "sunlit liquid color crescendo," while the "Vanilla Bean Amate Table Lamp" proves her motto: "Neutral but never boring!"

Mark DeShields

Mark DeShields began his glass career in 2004 at Salem Community College's Scientific Glass Technology program. After working as a scientific glass blower in Raleigh, he became a full-time pipe maker before relocating to Asheville to pursue glass art more seriously. In 2021, he transitioned to hot shop soft glass at the North Carolina Glass Center. His work in Liminal Light includes "Ethereal Ascension," which explores light refraction on polished surfaces with gold and silver fume.

Pamella O'Connor

Pamella O'Connor creates luminous hanji paper flower lamps inspired by the ancient Korean tradition. A former theater and puppetry artist, Pamella studied this craft with a Korean master for nine months. Her exhibition pieces, "Driftwood Family" and "Wind Two," express movement and emotion through handmade paper and natural materials, offering what she describes as a "depth and warmth that is completely its own."

Patti Quinn Hill

Patti Quinn Hill transforms hand-painted archival paper into luminous woven vessels that dance with color and movement. A member of the Southern Highland Craft Guild, represented by Blue Spiral 1, Patti draws inspiration from nature and traditional basket-making forms, infusing them with contemporary energy. In Liminal Light, her works “Galadriel Lady of Lorien,” “Waves of Gold,” and “Cascading Gold” showcase her signature curled embellishments and metallic accents, creating what she describes as pieces with "their own voice, spirit and grace."

Travers Thurman

Travers Thurman is a flameworker based in Western North Carolina, specializing in intricate borosilicate glass marbles and paperweights that encase detailed tree forms. "I think trees are beautiful, and so I do my best to put them into glass," he says. His work in Liminal Light includes “Hemlock Pocket Trees” and “Pink Cherry Tree Marble.” His work can be found at the North Carolina Glass Center, online, or in the gallery.

All images published with permission of the artist(s); featured photo: Leah Baker.