The Pedvale International Artist Residency Exhibition Hall is pleased to present “Retrospective / Recent / Renewed,” a three-person exhibition featuring the artwork of Catherine, Carl, and Benjamin Billingsley. Running from July 25 through September 27, 2026, this unique exhibition serves as familial dialogue highlighting similar motifs across different media. Experience what these artists have in common, and explore the individuality of their chosen forms of expression.
“Retrospective / Recent / Renewed” investigates the intersection of abstraction and symbolism as a personal response to our shared experience. By placing the distinct practices of Catherine, Carl, and their son Benjamin Billingsley side by side, the exhibition explores an interconnected artistic lineage. Visitors will experience a dynamic range of works—stretching from the formally structured patterned textiles of Catherine’s early career, and Benjamin’s most recent narrative woodcut prints, to Carl’s ongoing exploration of material and method influenced by his projects in the Latvian landscape.
Set against the unique backdrop of the Abava River Valley, the exhibition mirrors the spirit of the Pedvale Art Park, where contemporary art seamlessly integrates with natural environments. The collection highlights how three individual artists within the same family navigate form and concept, shifting fluidly between traditional craft and avant-garde expressions.
About the Artists:
Catherine Billingsley is a weaver who combines traditional weaving methods with computerized pattern generation and techniques such as pleating and folding to create sculptural forms. She holds a BFA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and an MFA from East Carolina University, where she also served on the textile faculty. Her independent practice includes major regional exhibitions and prominent public commissions, notably a 32-foot woven installation for the Center for Creative Leadership (1992) and a 2013 liturgical commission for St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church. This landmark presentation marks her very first exhibition outside of the United States.
Carl Billingsley is a sculptor working primarily in cast iron, stone, wood, and steel. He believes in the universality of sculpture to communicate across barriers of culture, language, and even time. A retired Professor and Sculpture Coordinator from East Carolina University, Carl’s global iron-casting career has earned top honors at the Toya Mura Biennale, the Guilin Yuzi Paradise Awards in China, and Sculpture by the Sea in Australia. Carl and Catherine have been professional artists for nearly sixty years, during which Carl has maintained a 34-year creative history with Pedvale—culminating in directing a major international casting symposium here in 2014 as well as installing multiple permanent sculpture in the Pedvale Art Park (including Stone Boat, Northern Wind, and Pedvale Lodestone).
Benjamin Billingsley uses large-scale relief printmaking to investigate societal changes and our fragile relationship with the natural world. Holding an MFA from UNC Greensboro, he recently transitioned from a distinguished 25-year art education career at Cape Fear Community College—where he earned the Marilyn Goodman Anderson Award for Excellence in Teaching—to become the Curator of Exhibitions and Collections at the Cameron Art Museum. He maintains an active art practice that includes co-directing a printmaking symposium at Pedvale in 2015, alongside extensive regional exhibition adjudication and site-specific festival installations.
