REBUS WORKS

My work is rooted in a fascination with craft materials and in discovering and amassing source materials from thrift stores and flea markets. From the chaos of the accumulated collections in my studio, I try to bring life back to the discarded and abandoned materials, creating conversations between the disparate elements. These elements connect and intertwine in unexpected ways, creating abstract forms with a peculiar emotional resonance. Through collage and found object sculpture, I explore the expressive potential in the subtle interaction of shape, color and texture. I began working in sculpture and installation, creating fantastical forms from things like plastic flowers, upholstery fabric, yarn, and old toys. This evolved into explorations with collage using images from old craft magazines, which allowed me to create more complex compositions while still incorporating some of the aesthetic qualities of the old materials and sculptures. The found elements guide the compositions, like pieces of a puzzle that I both create and solve in the process of making. For my show Tender Times at Rebus Works, I have created a group of small sculptures with accompanying collages. Each collage was created after I completed the sculpture. The sculptures were inspired by recent large sculptures, which themselves are based on earlier collages.

Tonya Solley Thornton was born in Niagara Falls, NY, but grew up mostly in the Florida Keys. She received her BFA from Florida State and her MFA from Mills College in Oakland, CA. She was the recipient of several awards and fellowships, including the Jay Defeo Award, the Murphey Fine Arts Fellowship, and the Herringer Prize for Excellence in Art, and the Headlands Center for the Arts Graduate Fellowship. From California she moved to New York, taking some time off to start a family. Since moving to North Carolina in 2014, she has been active in the arts community and has been included in shows at Anchorlight, Lump, Durham Arts Guild, ArtSpace and VAE. Tonya currently lives and works in Raleigh, NC.