Abby Wolfzorn eats from a heart-shaped plate

Circling Issue #6, featuring Abby Wolfzorn

Abby Wolfzorn grew up in Ankara, Turkey before moving to Tennessee at age 17. They remember drawing and painting as a child and meeting Turkish potters and textile artists. Currently, Abby lives as a painter in Jackson, TN hosting studio nights, teaching kid and adult workshops, and building community.

In spite of a storm that threatened our wi-fi connection, I spoke with Abby on a late Sunday afternoon over video call about the people, work, and ideas that sustain their art practice. Beyond the paintings they create, Abby is someone who surrounds themselves with things made by fellow artists as evidenced by many of their touchstone objects below. A deep sense of interconnectedness as a necessary ingredient of the creative life shone through in our conversation. As talisman, as practical object or item of beauty, art itself can remind us that we exist within a broader conversation and community of creation across time, age, and even the blurry dream-lines between waking and sleeping.