These Memories Can't Wait-Beryl Solla: A Retrospective
It is a joy to celebrate the rich life of Beryl Solla, the artist in this exhibit. From the start, Beryl loved clay. There was something about the way she could push it and it pushed back that worked for her. As she learned to control it, moving from earthy browns to her later colored and carved surfaces, she found her artistic voice in vessels, sculptures, tile murals and public art installations. At times, when clay wasn’t enough, she broke out her handy jigsaw and cut into wood to create shapes that became fanciful painted sculptures that danced across the wall.
With illness, her ability to work in clay became limited, so Beryl turned to a more lightweight and portable medium - fabric and sequins. Her signature sense of humor and iconic style were transformed effortlessly into a series of exquisite, beaded jewels. Most of the small sequin pieces were given to friends by Beryl as a thank you for providing critical support when she was getting treatment. As we see in this exhibition, Beryl’s creations and community live on affixed to the walls of loved ones, adorning bookshelves and enriching public spaces in Charlottesville and beyond.
We included some unfinished pieces in this exhibition, partly for educational purposes (always!), but also because Beryl wasn’t done! She had plans in her head and projects in mid-stream. It gives us a window into her process to see the many steps she took to create these seemingly effortless creations. Who knew creating joy takes so much tedious work? Beryl did. She knew the real truth of being an artist - that to create is to make a conscious choice to be in the moment, to fly with bunnies, and, above all, to say yes.
Many thanks to Beryl’s loving community for generously lending their artwork.
-Fenella Belle
Program Coordinator - Fine Arts Department
Division of Humanities, Fine Arts & Social Sciences
Piedmont Virginia Community College
