A new exhibit opening will be held on Thursday Oct. 12 at 6 p.m. at the USM Art Gallery in Gorham. “Embodying Softness/Excavating Delight” will feature the complementary works of prominent artists Jackie Milad and Libby Paloma. Their pieces range from from mixed media wall hangings to free-standing soft sculptures. The opening will feature refreshments as well as a performance and artist lecture.
Milad is a Baltimore City-based artist whose mixed-media abstract paintings and collages are inspired by the history and complexities of dispersed cultural heritage and multi-ethnic identity. Her work stems from her interest in recently discovered artifacts of the Lenca people on Tiger Island in Honduras, where her mother was born.
Photo credit: Ace LehnerLibby Paloma, For the Starry-Eyed, For the Healers, 2023. Fabric, armature, polyfill, and essential oils, 12 x 8 x 5 ft. Installed at the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, NYC.
Milad’s process mimics a transformational archaeology process: excavation to resurrection as she reconfigures older pieces into new works. Her images and symbology often include song lyrics from “Bad Bunny” and other contemporary artists, thus interrupting a linear trajectory of history. Milad has participated in numerous group and solo exhibitions both nationally and internationally.
Artist Libby Paloma’s background as a speech-language pathologist informs her artistic investigation into idiomatic language and its capacity to convey more than straightforward speech. Currently based in New York City, her work is drawn from aspects of her/their Mexican-American, queer, disabled identity. Her soft sculpture installations and performances are an invitation to rest in a fluffy and tender world.
Photo credit: Courtesy of the ArtistJackie Milad, Tanto Es, 2021. Mixed-media on canvas collage, 60 x 55 in. Part of Embodying Softness/ Excavating Delight at the University of Southern Maine Art Gallery.
In “No Picnic,” Paloma makes figures of speech visible, conjuring cans of worms, spilled milk, in her installations which are a metaphor for living with chronic illness. Her work conveys a feeling of bittersweetness and also a softer reality.
The exhibition will run until Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023. The Gallery is open Tuesday – Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and by appointment. A suggested donation of $2 is requested for exhibition visits. This program is made possible with generous support from The Margaret E. Burnham Charitable Trust and the University’s Women and Gender Studies Department.