Welcome

Redux Contemporary Art Center is excited to present Welcome, a two-person exhibition highlighting the work of Washington DC based artist Mills Brown and local Charleston artist, Celeste Caldwell. Redux’s two-person exhibitions present the public with an opportunity to examine and engage with, the interconnectivity and parallels between the work of two distinct creative practices.

The work showcased in Welcome begin with small moments often set in domestic spaces, among women, and rooted within a Southern tradition. Ornamental painted surfaces and rich, patterned textiles playfully converse, while layered ideas about home, childhood, vulnerability and experiences of womanhood weave connections into a more nuanced conversation. The artists invite viewers into the intimate moments contained in each work, and in turn we ask what it means to feel fully welcomed in a space. 

Through a variety of methods including sewing, embroidery, and painting, Celeste Caldwell considers the reality of a complex female experience. By combining traditionally feminine objects and patterns with symbols of violence and stories of female empowerment, she explores modern femininity in and outside of the home. She depicts home as a stage for vulnerability, a place where she defies it as a child and learns to welcome it as an adult. 

Childhood also plays an important role in the work of Mills Brown, as she uses translucent acrylic washes, bright oil pens and collaged photos and paper to reinvent memories from the different places she’s called home. Mills references photos as she unearths her family history, drawing on images and stories of ancestors both familiar and unknown. Influenced by Southern Gothic literature, she counters these personal, familial paintings with portraits and interiors inspired by fictional worlds from classic American mythology. Both artists analyze the idea of home as a place of rooted history, current vulnerability, and future empowerment.

Celeste Caldwell is a practicing illustrator and fiber artist in Charleston, South Carolina. She graduated from College of Charleston in 2018 with a double major in Studio Arts and Art History, and a minor in Arts Management. She completed a work-study at Arrowmont School of Arts & Craft in 2019 where she studied fiber collage and encaustics. 

Mills Brown is a painter and collagist currently based in the Washington D.C. area. Originally from Florence, SC, Mills graduated from Wofford College in 2015 with a BA in English and Art History, and from American University in 2017 with an MFA in Studio Art. M

Images L to R: Mills Brown “Playing Canasta” & Celeste Caldwell “Moms Quilt”