October's First Friday at The Modbo and SPQR: Lindsay Hand and Elizabeth Selby

The Modbo and S.P.Q.R. present October’s First Friday on October 7th, 2016.  In The Modbo, you’ll see “Cecelia,” a unique show featuring painting by Lindsay Hand and an installation by Nethery Wylie.  Meanwhile, in S.P.Q.R., it’s “New Souls” by Elizabeth Selby.  Both shows are open Friday nights through 28th.  The opening reception on October 7th will go from 5:30 pm til midnight, with a recital by Lauren Ciborowski at 9 pm.  The closing reception on the 28th will feature a 7 pm recital.  

In the summer of 2016, painter Lindsay Hand purchased a photo album containing pictures of a young lady from near birth through her 20s.  They seem to be from about 1905 onward, and have no other indication of name, location, or context.  Out of this mysterious and beautiful collection of old photos, Hand developed an idea for a show.  In addition to oil paintings based on the photos, “Cecelia” will also involve a photo-transfer fabric installation by Nethery Wylie, and a carefully curated recital by pianist Lauren Ciborowski.  Together, these artists hope to lead you into the world of the inscrutable young lady in the album.

Primarily self taught, local artist LIndsay Hand has consistently exhibited her work at various galleries throughout the state of Colorado, including The Modbo gallery, and more recently at the Southern Colorado Coal Miners Museum. In Hand’s most recent work there is again the visually driving source material of the past that has dominated her work thus far– now overlapping with an exploration into aspects of spiritualism, the concepts surrounding it and a delving into the subconscious by introducing automatism into her technique.

In Cecelia we see the source material of the past that has dominated Hand’s work thus far now colliding with an exploration of the more esoteric approaches to insight into an individual’s history. Not knowing who Cecelia is or was to those in her life as it would have been recorded in the early 20th century, but relying on the photographs as the sole reference to her existence, is a beautiful mystery to be unfolded for the artist as she paints it. The result is a body of work which invokes the spirit of this woman to manifest in a body of work which Hand has translated from a photo album into an exhibit shining light on a forgotten life’s lasting breath.

Nethery Wylie plays with images and texts through painting, printmaking, mixed media and installation.  She transfers, layers, juxtaposes and rewrites in order to see things in new ways. Nethery has been a college librarian in Colorado Springs since 1985, has an art studio downtown, and recently completed an MFA with University of Plymouth (UK) and Transart Institute. The installation for “Cecelia” at The Modbo features images made large enough to gaze back at the viewer with a life-size presence of their own. More information at www.netherywylie.net

Elizabeth Selby’s current body of work, “New Souls,” is a new endeavor to create portraits of friends to sharpen her skills as a painter. Drawn to the emotion and inner dialogue of her model’s expression, she interprets their personalities onto the canvas with somewhat overdone pops of color and bits of childhood nostalgia.