Taylor Banner & Annalise Sonney at the Red Brick Gallery
Art That Holds Memory and Carries Tradition:
An old photograph, a dried leaf, a cup held in the hand: ordinary things can carry a remarkable sense of connection. In a new exhibit at the Red Brick Gallery, Taylor Banner’s mixed media collages and Annalise Sonney’s ceramics invite visitors to consider how history and tradition live within the objects of everyday life.
The exhibit runs Friday, October 2, through Sunday, November 8, at the Red Brick Gallery & Gift Shop in Foxburg, PA. An opening wine and cheese reception will be held Saturday, October 24, from 5 to 7 PM, before the 7:30 PM Lincoln Hall concert and Halloween dance featuring The Fabulous Booze Brothers Show Band and Revue.
A Red Brick Gallery cooperative artist, Taylor Banner works with old family photographs, vintage papers, found objects, textiles and dried botanicals. She layers these fragments into imagined narratives, giving new presence to people and moments that might otherwise be forgotten. Her family history—and particularly the experiences of women who came before her—runs through the work. Houses recur as places of warmth and protection, but also as containers for private lives and untold stories.
“I find beauty in the weathered surfaces of discarded objects and old photos and incorporate them into my work as a way of telling a story”, Banner says. “Every layer of rust and wear reveals an object’s journey and evokes the unseen hands that once held it. To me, an old photograph only captures a brief moment in time but carries the weight of life once lived. I use these small bits of information to create a new story as I layer the objects together. ”
By arranging photographs alongside weathered materials and plants gathered over many years, she leaves room for viewers to bring their own memories to the images. The dried botanicals and leaves she has incorporated in this exhibition serve as symbols of both structural endurance and delicate emotional vulnerability.
Guest artist Sonney begins with clay, a material drawn from the earth, and shapes it into vessels made to be held and used. Forms, textures, sketches and glaze colors draw on the natural world. Her ceramics also honor the long tradition of pottery as a practical craft: she wants each piece to be pleasing in the hand and sturdy enough for daily life.
Seen together, the artists’ work moves between memory and use. Banner finds stories in objects that have survived; Sonney creates objects that can gather stories of their own. Both give attention to the beauty and richness of familiar things.
Taylor Banner is an artist and educator from Clarion, PA. She earned a degree in art education from Edinboro University with a concentration in print making and ceramics. She began her teaching career in metro Charlotte, NC where she also taught in a community art studio serving underprivileged youth. Returning to Pennsylvania to teach at Clarion Elementary School, she has curated community art exhibits and served on the Clarion County Arts Council. Her work has been exhibited in Pennsylvania, Virginia and North Carolina, and she has been a member of the Red Brick Gallery since 2022.
Annalise Sonney graduated from Clarion University with a BFA, completing a ceramic residency at Cub Creek Foundation after graduation and an internship with ceramic artist Justin Rothshank studying wood fired pottery processes. She has worked as a production potter for Cloud Terre. Along with ceramics, Annalise enjoys drawing, printmaking, and metalsmithing. Currently living in western Pennsylvania, her work can be found at J Lauren Design in Tidioute, Pennsylvania.
“The Red Brick Gallery & Gift Shop is located at 17 Main Street, Foxburg, PA 16036. Gallery hours are Fridays, 1–6 PM; Saturdays, 11 AM –7 PM.; and Sundays, noon–5 PM. Appointments outside regular hours are available by reservation. For information, call 724-659-3153 or visit alleghenyriverstone.org.
