Meditations of Life and Death: Kimberly Riner

Reception and Gallery Talk on January 26, 6-8pm 

Statesboro, GA, based artist, Kimberly Riner, creates mixed media ceramic installations exploring death and mortality.  Reinterpreting the vanitas genre – a genre that flourished in the Netherlands in the late 16th, early 17th, century as a metaphor for the meaninglessness of earthly life and transient nature of earthly goods and pursuits.  Translated from the Latin word meaning vanity, hallmarks of this artistic genre include depicting symbols associated with death and the futility of earthly pleasures. Employing classical iconography, such as skulls, timepieces, fruit, and flowers in contemporary fashion, Riner comments on 21st century vanitas to allude to the transient and cyclical nature of life, death, and rebirth. Riner’s current body of work serves as a commentary on the self-admiration running rampant in our society.