A Furtive Assembly
Works by Kristin Sollenberger and Jill McLaughlin

Opening: Sunday, December 14th, 3pm - 5:00 pm
Myopic Books, 343 A Main Street, Wakefield RI 02879
Exhibition dates: 12/14/08 – 1/31/09

Download images / Press: Kristin Sollenberger, Jill McLaughlin, Press release, Images from the opening

Myopic Books in Wakefield offers a show of two South County residents; Kristin Sollenberger and Jill McLaughlin. This is the first time these two artists, both utilizing found and unusual objects, have exhibited together.

In this show, Kristin Sollenberger introduces “a family” of three-dimensional creatures created from found materials or debris, taken from many sources including toothbrushes, fabric, bone, leather, wire, hair and two yarmulkes stitched together. Kristin is, as she says, “obsessed with somehow preserving the broken, torn, and obsolete” by imagining and creating new purposes and forms through stitching, hammering and sawing.

Jill McLaughlin creates assemblages and collages from vintage photographs, old books, ephemera and found objects to create a “nostalgic, timeless feeling.” Her work also includes familiar objects like wooden drawers, old frames or boxes all with their own history that she uses in combination with contemporary materials, to create a subtle layering of texture and depth.

Kristin Sollenberger has lived in Rhode Island since 1987 when she attend the Rhode Island School of Design. She graduated with honors in 1990 from the Painting Department. During her time at RISD she became more interested in using alternative materials rather than just paint in her work. She began this exploration by attaching found objects to the canvas. The objects, created from scraps and sometimes painted, soon replaced the canvas. Sollenberger’s work over the past decade has been two and three-dimensional, again using found materials. Since 1996 Sollenberger has also owned and operated Myopic Books, an award winning, second hand bookshop in Providence and from 2007, also in Wakefield.

Jill McLaughlin studied art and photography at Delta Community College and Western Michigan University, before she moved to New England. She has been active in many local arts organizations and currently is an Associate Member of the Art League of RI, Artist Cooperative Gallery of Westerly, Norwich Arts Council and Hera Educational Foundation.

For further information please contact
Kristin Sollenberger, Myopic Books, 343 A Main Street, Wakefield RI 02879, 401.284.4554
Jill McLaughlin, 401.742.7740, jillmclaughlin@cox.net
Viera Levitt, independent curator, www.vieralevitt.org, 401.714.9698

Previous exhibition in Myopic Books - Denny Moers, Mathias Oppersdorff