In Practice: Elizabeth Duffy and Melinda McDaniel
October 17 - November 10, 2024
Opening Reception & Artists' Talk: Thursday, October 17, 5 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
The Schick Art Gallery presents In Practice, a two-person exhibition of work spanning multiple decades and mediums - fibers, sculpture, installation, and photography - by artists Elizabeth Duffy and Melinda McDaniel. Duffy and McDaniel use a wide range of materials to explore themes of popular culture, power, and domesticity.
Melinda McDaniel grew up in Florida, inspired by the visual overload of Walt Disney World and the endless light of the Florida climate. Her work explores alternative approaches to photography, often combining photo paper with wood and nails as building blocks for her architectural wall sculptures. Her witty mixed-media ceramic tableaus reflect on, among other things, relationship dynamics, politics, and anthropomorphism.
McDaniel received her BFA in studio art from Florida State University and MFA in photography from The Ohio State University. Her work has been exhibited at Carrie Haddad Gallery in Hudson, NY; the BRIC Rotunda Gallery in Brooklyn, New York; and the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, Illinois, among other venues. She lives and works in Albany, New York, where she is an Associate Professor in the Visual and Performing Arts Department at Russell Sage College.
Elizabeth Duffy creates ‘controllable worlds that allude to the apparent comforts of home, to reveal its contradictions, pathos, and bewildering humor.’
In her Wearing series, she unravels antique braided rugs, cleans and irons the fabric, and remakes them into ‘new’ clothing or quilts. As she unbraids a rug, myriad hidden patterns and exuberant hues are revealed. She states that she is ‘fascinated by how taking (things) apart reveals hidden worlds, and the ingenuity, poetry and striving of the human imagination.’
Duffy has exhibited her work extensively, including at the Drawing Center, White Columns, and Wave Hill in New York City; the RISD Museum in Providence, Rhode Island; and the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT. She is also the recipient of numerous awards and residencies. Duffy received her BA from Rutgers College, and her MFA from CUNY/Brooklyn College. She lives and works in Providence, RI and teaches in the Art Department at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island.
Both artists will be present for the Opening Reception and Artists’ Talk on
Thursday, October 17 at 5:30 PM in the Schick Gallery.
All Schick Art Gallery events are free and open to the public.