 Stephen Dorsett Inner Landscapes photographs and dioramas 9/8/2023-10/8/2023 Opening reception Sunday Sept. 10, 1-3 ***artist talk at 2 pm*** From the artist: Inner Landscapes includes miniature dioramas of natural environments crafted from consumer waste, and photographs of these constructed landscapes. My process is uncovering the beauty and value in the discarded debris of trash cans, while simultaneously delving into my own mind to discover joy and other positive emotions. Sometimes I cope with feelings of emptiness and unmet emotional needs by accumulating unnecessary items. The dioramas incorporate the physical waste and emotional remnants of this consumption cycle.  Lighting and photographing the dioramas allows me to experience the sense of wholeness, satisfaction, and tranquility that comes from time spent in mountains, forests, caves, and other natural settings. Through the transformation of discarded materials into art pieces, I practice resilience and celebrate my innate ability to discover solace and growth within my own anxious mind. I hope my work encourages viewers to reassess their own consumption patterns and find happiness in the depths of their own inner landscapes. Mary Craik [1924-2019]
I enjoyed a good fight. And I was always ready. Louisville feminist and fiber artist Mary Craik was born on West Market St. She lived and stitched in an urban studio just two blocks away (now NULU Marketplace) until 2019, when she passed at the age of 95. The show title is a quote by Dr. Mary Craik, whom we first came to know in her early 70s as an artist and philanthropist. By then she had already had an academic career: receiving a doctorate in educational psychology from the University of Iowa in 1968, teaching at St. Cloud University, and fighting and winning a landmark battle against sexual discrimination. In 1976, Mary was denied a Department Chair position at St. Cloud, and filed a class action law suit for sexual discrimination against the University based on salary inequity, lack of promotions for women, lack of tenure for women, and lack of openings as chairs of various departments. She continued the law suit while teaching at St. Cloud, and endured nine years of shunning from fellow faculty members. And after these nine grueling years, the court finally found that discriminatory practices were in place, and St. Cloud University was ordered to settle. With the money Mary received from the settlement, she established the Mary Craik Scholarship for Women at the University of Louisville. After she retired from academia, she began her next career as a fiber artist. Please join us for a final show of her fiber art. August 4-28 ***reception Sunday August 20, 2-5 pm*** Over seventy fine works by her are still available; prices top at $500. Proceeds benefit the Scholarship Fund. |
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