The Volunteer State Community College Art Gallery is showcasing the work of two female artists, both working with feminine imagery in a variety of materials, including textiles. Gallery coordinator, Sue Mulcahy, said that Monica Stewart and Erinn Nordeman challenge the traditional roles of women, and invite the viewer to question the identity and expectations of women today.
Stewart is a multimedia artist working primarily with paper. She received her B.F.A with an emphasis painting from Murray State University and is currently pursuing her M.F.A at the University of Louisville.
“In my recent work, I explore the relationships between narrative and object,” Stewart said. “I often draw on object imagery from fairytales to allude to dysfunctional familial relationships, female agency, as well as the magical and grotesque. By cutting, rearranging, and embellishing both traditional and nontraditional materials, I create new works that enter the realm of objects.”
Erinn Nordeman is a printmaker, photographer, video, and textile artist. She received her B.F.A from Millersville University and her M.F.A at the University of Arizona. She is interested in shifting traditional materials into contemporary questions of sexuality, identity, and female gender expectations.
“This collection of work is expressing a nostalgia for the younger version of myself; a version that was much more confident and in touch with herself,” Nordeman said. “The fabrics I chose, along with the self-portraits, embody that little girl, and all of her female role models on television and movies.”
The show runs from October 1 to November 1. The exhibit is free and open to the public. The Vol State Art Gallery is located on the first floor of the Steinhauer-Rogan-Black (SRB) Humanities Building on the Gallatin campus at 1480 Nashville Pike. Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For more information call 615-230-3202.
Pictured: Monica Stewart, Dress.
