Absurd Imaginaries
ABSURD IMAGINARIES
Saugatuck Center for the Arts
Works by Jessica Calderwood and Julie Legér-Belaire
January 1 - March 11 2019
Absurd Imaginaries brings together Jessica Calderwood and Julie Liger-Belair, two figurative artists who draw upon surreal motifs and folklore in playful yet subversive explorations of gender, identity and fantasy. While distinct in their materials and processes, the two artists share more than a few similarities in their work.
At first glance, their use of traditionally feminine florals, pinks and pastels, along with decorative elements and craft materials creates a whimsical, cheerful appearance. A closer look, however, reveals darker, more complicated themes as the female figures at the center of both artists’ work, are amputated, constricted and masked. Confined to pedestals like dolls on display, as in Calderwood’s sculptures, or truncated and merging with their patterned environments, as in Liger-Belair’s collages, the female characters in both of the artists’ work are just that: characters. Even in their fantastical states, they lack mobility and autonomy.
By playing with simultaneously revealing and concealing the female figures, the artists create a flirtatious dance between invitation and denial. Their works explore disconnects between identity and gender roles, societal expectations and individual desire. They beg the questions,
What is the relationship between choice and power, beauty and mobility? When does the territory between external expectations and individual desire become... absurd?
Equal parts autobiographical exploration and cultural critique, the works lead us to wrestle with our own identities in relationship to fantasies, both those in which we create and those thrust upon us.
