ALTOONA, Pa. — “Threads, Folds & Rabbit Holes,” a body of work by Ivyside Juried Art Exhibition winner Kristy Deetz, will be on display Oct. 31 through Dec. 14 in the McLanahan Gallery of the Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts. The exhibition is free and open to the public.
“Threads, Folds & Rabbit Holes” is a well-received interdisciplinary traveling exhibition featuring the paintings/textiles of Kristy Deetz and two books of ekphrastic stories of the artwork written by Edward Risden, pen name Edward S. Louis. The artwork comes from two series, “Through the Veil” and “Holidays Unfolding,” where Rabbit and Kitty Boy, intrepid protagonists take the viewer on many adventures through the artwork and books.
The illusionistically painted fabric in “Through the Veil” series acts as a threshold that places the shape-shifting Rabbit and Kitty Boy into multiple, often conflicting, layers of space and meaning. The paintings use dark humor, visual puns, symbols and metaphors, moments of silence, art historical allusions, cultural collisions, and spiritual conundrums to play with style and pictorial/formal construction.
The “Holidays Unfolding” series investigates the historic use of decorative drapery and the artistic category of still life. The surrealistic artwork at times presents Orwellian-like narratives offered through nostalgic beauty to comment on pressing issues in contemporary politics, culture, and mores associated with American holidays. The work explores new possibilities between a complex interface of painting, textiles, and digital technology while producing a product that maintains the richness of slow work by hand.
Deetz is an emerita professor at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. She frequently serves as a visiting artist and has led numerous painting/drawing workshops. Her extensive exhibition record includes national and international venues, and her paintings have been featured in “Encaustic Art in the Twenty-First Century,” “Encaustic Art—The Complete Guide to Creating Fine Art with Wax,” and “Full-Range Color Painting for the Beginner.” Recently she served as Erasmus Visiting Lectureship at the University of Kassel, Germany, and Artist-in Residence at The Burren College of Art in Ireland. More information is available on the artist’s website.
Edward Risden (Edward S. Louis) is professor emeritus of English, with specialties in English medieval and Renaissance literature and language, at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin. His nearly 180 publications include 32 books ranging from literary scholarship and theory to fiction, poetry, drama, translation, and pedagogical materials. Current work includes a study of literary spatiality, a consideration of the ongoing historical and aesthetic importance of film noir, and science fiction in both novel and short-story formats. More information is available on the author’s website.
The galleries are open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For further information, call the Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts at 814-949-5452.