Rocky Mount, N.C.—A new art exhibition, “No Waste Paper,” will open at North Carolina Wesleyan College’s Four Sisters Gallery on Friday, November 10, with a reception from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. The event is free and open to the public, and will continue until March 16, 2007.

Nashville native and folk artist Ron Battle will display his artworks produced from old newspaper. Items include colorfully painted dolls, teapots, and other odd creations made from waste newspaper and old paper bags.

Also on display will be the Mark Gordon Collection of Paper Caribbean Carnival Masks, with colorful paper masks from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela.

Ron Battle has been making art all of his life and in 1976, when he was 16 years old, he made his first exhibit of paintings at Rocky Mount Planters Bank. After he graduated from Northern Nash High School, he began designing T-shirts, posters, floral arrangements, and other promotional items. He has designed posters and T-shirts for the City of Rocky Mount and the YWCA, and was awarded the poster design commission for the 1995 Harambee Festival. A gifted realist artist, Battle has given art lessons for the City of Rocky Mount and the YWCA.

Battle started making his paper dolls and woven newspaper teapots and baskets about 1994 to produce inexpensive gifts for children. He recycles and sculpturally transforms scrap newspaper and old brown paper bags into a wide variety of dolls that he then paints. Likewise he produces all sorts of teapots, baskets, and unique folk art curiosities. Battle’s folk art is for sale and reasonably priced.

Mark Gordon is professor of sculpture and ceramics at Barton College in Wilson, N.C. His collection of masks contains excellent examples of bug-eyed humoresques, monsters with cow teeth, and imaginary horned creatures. Some are crudely fashioned while others show uncanny refinement. The exhibit illustrates how resourceful use of recycled materials and variations on traditional mask types inspire creativity.

Masking is an art form as ancient as mankind; it does three things: first it creates anonymity; second a mask is a put-on different persona to be acted out; and third the mask itself is something special. Horned masks, for instance, can signify power, wealth, and good farming, as well as a fearsome reminder of mortality. Masking can allow for the temporary elimination of taboos against flirtation in public or even staged ritual battles. Carnival in a lot of ways temporarily transforms and revitalizes community spirit.

Traditional Caribbean carnaval is a time to shed social restrictions and defy conventions during the month of February before the start of Lent. It is a time to temporarily overlook class divisions, wealth, and politics, and how better than losing one’s identity behind a mask and gaining another identity for fun or personal expression.

For additional information or to schedule a free tour, contact the Curator: Professor Everett Adelman, 252-985-5268.