If the words of Gabriel García Márquez were converted into paintings, they would look like Nancy Friedemann's. Using enamel on Mylar, she paints lace-like designs on black backgrounds, evoking Colombia's colonial past. In Forecast, brightly colored insects and flowers are tangled in a mass of ghostly, doily-esque designs. She explains, "The lace and crochet that existed in my grandmother's house in Bogotá are metaphors of social aspiration, of collective social trauma, of making things veiled, feminine, and dignified."
Her paintings, "Me as We, We as Me," are on display at Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, along with those of Jill Cannaday, who also deals in femininity. She paints unusual portraits of women, decorated with possums, slugs, and owls in place of tiaras, jewels, and stoles. She achieves a melty, surreal look by using wax, resin, and powdered pigment. See her exhibition, "The Naturalists," as well as Friedemann's.
Tuesdays-Saturdays, 10 a.m. Starts: June 10. Continues through Sept. 3, 2010