Marinaro is pleased to present a three-person exhibition of works by Kathleen Herlihy-Paoli, Cait Porter and Kelsie Rudolph. The exhibition will take place in Bozeman, Montana. The title of the exhibition, Act II, alludes to both the artists using different tenants of theater and the theatrical in their work and the turning point that society has reached in the midst of Covid-19, political upheaval and social changes. The term “second act” has a literal reference to the theater, but also is used as a positive sentiment for a new hopeful segment of life.
Kathleen Herlihy-Paoli’s work quite literally sets the stage. She uses painted curtains as a framing apparatus for the objects within her paintings. There is tension and uncertainty in the scenes that she reveals to the viewer—a writing quill floats in the air, ready to unleash the written form; a folding chair sits uncomfortably in a flooded hallway; a serene forest seems ready to endure a brutal storm that circles in the sky.
Cait Porter paints tight crops of domestic objects, creating drama in the everyday. There is foreboding through her use of shadow and reflection. A boiling pot on a stove becomes ominous through Porter’s cropped angle downward, restrained palette, and mysterious reflections. A hint of blue from the burning hot flame foreshadows the action that will soon take place. In each of her works, Porter skews the commonplace, creating an entire narrative through a singular object.
Kelsie Rudolph sculpts household objects in ceramic, creating small scenes of domestic life. In this exhibition, Rudolph presents a chair, lamp and window that depict a vignette of the ordinary. Upon closer examination, Rudolph uses hand-building techniques, scale shifts, altered positioning, and skewed perspective to mark the sculptures as simultaneously familiar and mysterious.