A solo exhibit by artist Virginia Derryberry that combines painting and fabric is coming to Coastal Carolina University's Rebecca Randall Bryan Art Gallery from Sept. 1 to Oct. 14. "Costume Construction/Artifactual Series" features large-scale oil figure paintings along with costumes associated with the paintings.

Derryberry will give a public lecture at the gallery Thursday, Sept. 8, at 2 p.m. and a reception will follow from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. The lecture, reception and exhibit are free and open to the public.

This series by Derryberry, who retired from the art faculty of the University of North Carolina at Asheville in 2015, blends narrative elements from mythology and alchemy. She found some of the costumes in this series, but others she designed and sewed from scratch. The figures are portraits of specific individuals in Derryberry's life, and her work combines real space with constructed formal compositions. The intent is to suggest multiple interpretations rather than straightforward illustration of a specific narrative.

Derryberry has had many solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States. Her works have been shown at the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia and the Bank of America Southeast Collection. She earned a bachelor's degree in art history from Vanderbilt University, a master's degree in painting and printmaking from Peabody College in Nashville, Tenn., and an MFA in drawing and painting from the University of Tennessee.

The gallery is located in Room 129 of the Thomas W. and Robin W. Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts, located at 133 Chanticleer Drive W. in Conway, and is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

For more information about the gallery, contact Jim Arendt, gallery director, at 843-349-6454, or visit coastal.edu/gallery. More information about the artist is at virginiaderryberry.com.