Posted by Rebecca Orbach Between March 2 and March 30,Skidmore alumnus Melissa Schlobohm is hosting her first solo show, "Adorned," since graduating last year at at Pink Raven, 55 Beekman St.
The show features two large printed installations, both of which are made entirely from woodblock and linoleum cuts through a technique called relief printmaking.
The main installation is called "Adorned," and is comprised of a series of girls "adorned" in animal headdresses with handmade wallpaper behind them.
Her inspiration for "Adorned" spawned from a smaller print she made that was based on a picture of her aunt as a child. She added the owl mask later.
"I thought it would be beautiful to see full, life-sized children wearing invented, larger than life masks. I used old family photos as reference for the girls' dresses," she said.
The second installation, "Infestation," is comprised of a few thousand hand colored beetles in a large swarm.
"I hoped the two installations would complement one another because they share similar themes of repetition and are playful yet creepy," she said.
Schlobohm says she is very attracted to repetitive processes and enjoyed printing and cutting out all of the wallpaper and beetles for her works.
"The installation was very labor intensive and took about two months to finish, but the outcome becomes that much more satisfying when so many small pieces come together to make a stunning whole," Schlobohm said.
Stop by Pink Raven at any point this March to catch Schlobohm's innovative and unique work during its' limited exhibition.