Colorful blossoming star-shapes and flowering geometric symmetry mix in Molly McCracken Kumar’s new work, where her evolutionary method mirrors her take on nature’s life and death-cycles. Translucent, diluted acrylic in rose, orange and turquoise are layered on the canvas, poured in steps as she covers one shade with another. The layers of the finished product show multiple dimensions while hand-painted, biomorphic forms suggest an abstracted narrative. Petal-laced, floral explosions and airbrushed, bug-shaped stencils repeat over a peach and fire-colored background in “Fervent Diffusion.” The juxtaposition of many different processes catches the fervor of warmer months. In contrast, “Dormant Incantation” has a much more somber feel, with grayish scenery and darker specks that resemble pussy willows in autumn. Images in other pieces may be crawling vines, falling snowflakes, or seeds waiting to blossom in the spring. Interestingly, the vagueness in McCracken Kumar’s work allows observation of nature from microscopic to macroscopic levels, where one can see distant galaxy configurations or observe bacteria reproduce and disintegrate. The subsequent familiar—yet exotic—images allow her to portray harmony and vitality in a universe that is wondrous and still largely mysterious. (Ben Broeren)
Molly McCracken Kumar shows at Addington Gallery, 704 North Wells, through November 19.
Repurposing AI: A Review of Stephanie Dinkins at Stamps Gallery While this show is timely for everyone, I consider its setting within a university art gallery and emerging tech hub like the city of Ann Arbor a subversive provocation which Dinkins invites the greater public—including members of the university community—to consider our own positionality to AI and technology.
Lost in Translation: A Review of Crip* at Gallery 400 The strongest works in the exhibition succinctly express the ways the artist relates to their own body while calling out how the artist’s body and body of work has been perceived or coded against norms or ideals.
Colorful blossoming star-shapes and flowering geometric symmetry mix in Molly McCracken Kumar’s new work, where her evolutionary method mirrors her take on nature’s life and death-cycles. Translucent, diluted acrylic in rose, orange and turquoise are layered on the canvas, poured in steps as she covers one shade with another. The layers of the finished product show multiple dimensions while hand-painted, biomorphic forms suggest an abstracted narrative. Petal-laced, floral explosions and airbrushed, bug-shaped stencils repeat over a peach and fire-colored background in “Fervent Diffusion.” The juxtaposition of many different processes catches the fervor of warmer months. In contrast, “Dormant Incantation” has a much more somber feel, with grayish scenery and darker specks that resemble pussy willows in autumn. Images in other pieces may be crawling vines, falling snowflakes, or seeds waiting to blossom in the spring. Interestingly, the vagueness in McCracken Kumar’s work allows observation of nature from microscopic to macroscopic levels, where one can see distant galaxy configurations or observe bacteria reproduce and disintegrate. The subsequent familiar—yet exotic—images allow her to portray harmony and vitality in a universe that is wondrous and still largely mysterious. (Ben Broeren)
