After filling the OSU Urban Arts Space this past summer, the Creative Arts of Women (CAW) presented its newest exhibit, “A Little Bit Closer,” at the recently-renovated Vanderelli Room, a Franklinton art gallery that was voted one of the Top 10 Best Local Galleries in 2014. CAW returns to a more intimate setting with this exhibit, which held its opening reception this past Friday. As promised, “A Little Bit Closer” was an exhibit of petite works that packed a large punch.
The show was accommodated by the venue accordingly, with the Vanderelli Room’s one, open, but intimate room spanning 1350 square feet. Combined with its nine and a half foot walls and pitched ceiling, the venue could not be a better fit. The gallery’s interior had a minimalistic, retro vibe; with whitewashed walls and gray flooring paired with eighties-nostalgic furniture.
The exhibit, however, meditated on present-day culture and ideas, through an array of mixed media collaged alongside photographs, parchment papers, water colors, jelly roll pens, oils, acrylics, and pastels. Other pieces were composed using alternative materials, such as wood and clay; or raw wool, silk, and chiffon like Amber McIntosh’s Untitled 1, 2, & 3. Others, like Jenn Brewster’s Vessel, collaged mixed media to play with the elements of the human body, or rather, the female body, by wrapping wire around the clay bust of a woman, and replacing the head with a sea shell.
The exhibit explored and examined the modern female experience, including the physical body, life and love, intimacy, and emotion. Many pieces focus on the woman’s face and emotions, such as Material Studies (1-9), a mixed media piece by April Sunami that depicts an African-American woman in nine different miniature portraits, each with flowing hair created by beads.
A Little Bit Closer runs from November 13th through December 4th at the Vanderelli Room, located at 218 McDowell Street in Franklinton. The exhibit is curated by CAW members Catherine Bell Smith, Mollie Hannon and Stephanie Rond.
For more information, visit www.cawcolumbus.com and www.thevanderelliroom.com.
Photos by Caroline Kraus of blurry st.