Side-By-Each: Something Pulled or Drawn Away

Something Pulled or Drawn Away pairs the work of community artist Sarah Jane Barry with that of four Starlight artists: Angelina Blackmer, Kelly Evans, Debbie Medwin, and Donald Solberg.  The work covers a spectrum between abstraction and illustrated environments.  On the more illustrative end are Angelina Blackmer’s highly detailed fantasy interiors and Kelly Evans’ dense, mixed-media scenes.  Blackmer’s work goes between isolated fantasy icons and fleshed-out interior scenes that thrive on the small details: a lush treehouse with shelves of books and plants; and a cozy fireplace with witchy accoutrements spread around.  Kelly Evans’ work is similarly detailed, but more riotous in its use of material.  The figures and objects are rendered in Evans’ characteristic angular style.  Surfaces within the image are filled with patterns, and the occasional glitter adds to the noise and texture of the pencil marks and brush strokes.  Sarah Jane Barry’s ink works appear entirely abstract at a glance, but with scant details that suggest otherwise.  An evaporated pool of ink may have tendrils that resemble bug legs or plant growth or a blob may be graced with a pair of eyes that imbue a bit of sentience into the organic shape.  Like Kelly Evans’ work, much of the detail is both abstract and illustrative.  Patterns are developed overtop the initial ink forms and may read as hatch marks or scales, polka dots or fur patterns.  There is also a casual sense of experimentation that aligns Barry’s paintings with the work of Debbie Medwin.  Medwin tends toward process, with each work involving a slightly different combination of brushing, splattering, tracing, masking, and collaging.  Some familiar subjects reoccur, such as flowers, but the often abstract results are less about the image and more about how it was built.  Lastly, included in the exhibition are a series of modified vessels by Donald Solberg that involve weaving yarn overtop of existing baskets and carriers.  In some works, the yarn is so densely built up that the original object becomes obscured and misshapen.  In others, it is selectively applied, leaving portions of the carrier exposed.  The yarn colors and weaving approaches shift suddenly and often, making for a relatively chaotic sight.

Curated by Kyle Butler