meredith cutler :: arts marketing :: artist

Hopefully, many of my local readers took the opportunity to visit the RISD Graduate Thesis Exhibition, which wrapped up yesterday. As for myself, I had to return to the exhibit hall several times to take it all in. While I cannot go into great detail on each and every artist, or nuance of the exhibition, I hope here to draw attention to what I considered the highlights of the visitor experience.

On my first pass through the cavernous hall, I was pleased to discover the work of Maryam Molki, a MFA Painting candidate of Iranian decent. Although a painter, Molki focused her thesis work on a series of altered mass-produced rugs, hung vertically on the wall to be viewed rather than walked upon.

Admittedly, I had just come from an informal kilim rug "purchasing consult" for a friend, but I was drawn to the excersise of excessive material removal and subtle reconstitution that Molki perpetuated upon these mass-produced, "Made In China" specimens. I should note that photos don't do these pieces justice. Like many works in fiber, the ability to examine the work close up, with tactile focus, is key.

Also from the painting department, and working rather sculpturally, is Cassie Jones. Playfully grotesque, her dimensional paintings grow from the wall in kitchy shades of flesh, "astroturf" green and grey. Referencing building materials, skins, and invented topographical maps (of alien planets)...

I have always gravitated towards gnarly painting. With its hoof-like protrusions, the piece depicted above is as gnarly as the Incredible Hulk's bathmat!