Pressing Pearls In My Fists

Solo Exhibition

January 2022

Pressing Pearls In My Fists

Space 204 Gallery at Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN, USA


Pressing Pearls in My Fists tells a story of restriction leading to release; of loosening the grip to the earth while looking at the sky for signs and answers; of rocks, crystals, pearls, whirlpools, and planets, which are (trans)formed by extreme pressure. The concept of holiness is recurring in Arp’s work, and in this series she moves away from Christian themes and aims to portray the elemental and seasonal holiness. In the last year and a half since receiving the Margaret Stonewall Wooldridge Hamblet Award, Arp has expanded her studio practice to include the media of egg tempera and stained-glass—materials associated with traditional Medieval Catholic and Byzantine iconography—and has applied these materials to New Age spiritual practices such as metaphysics, theosophy, astrology, and tarot. Her sculptural works invert the expectations of stained glass with their monotone color scheme and lack of borders, while egg tempera is used for portraits of malefic planets instead of Catholic saints. Altogether, Arp sees this body of work as being about transformation and expansion in reference to her new explorations of media and motifs.


Press Release