Happy Thanksgiving!

In case you didn't get the DCCA's fancy thank you e-mail, I would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving on behalf of the DCCA staff.

Here's to a hearty feast for herbivores and carnivores alike and a wonderful holiday full of good cheer and family fun!

Thanks for reading!

Panoramic View: Things Left Behind

Katie Baldwin, Aunt Harriet and
Treasure, 2010, Moku hanga and
letterpress, 11" X 7"

In my first post for entirely too long, I was tempted to depart from my usual habit of only writing about art that would be at home in a nineteenth century sun room and write an "In Depth" post about a piece of felt in Katie Baldwin's extraordinary exhibit, Things Left Behind. (Note to self: stop writing War and Peace-length sentences)

The felt in question is a representation of a long, relatively straight river. I had planned on writing about the whimsical cleverness of the piece and how wonderful it is to walk along it and feel like a bird flying from one end of the river to the other, arriving at a new locale. Fortunately for you, dear readers, I soon realized the folly of my plan. Such is the whimsical cleverness of the piece that it is quite impossible to discuss it without discussing the entire exhibition, including many, relatively traditional, figural works. Hence: this "Panoramic View" entry.

The river in question occupies the central space of the DCCA's Beckler Family Member's Gallery and is the only piece in the exhibit that is not hung on the walls. Unless you are in the habit of sneaking into galleries by slithering around the corners of doorways, it is also the first object you see as you enter the gallery. For a length of blue felt, it is a surprisingly complex piece that is responsible for uniting the rest of the works. The banks  of Baldwin's river gently curve inward and outward in a softly undulating line. If the river were straighter or more sinuous, one might be tempted to speed along the banks. Instead, Baldwin invites her viewers to take their time as they walk along the the miniature river; to enjoy the gentle curves and minute detail of the miniature banks.