TOUR: More Delicate Things

by Tara Fay 

In a new series, we've invited local creatives to guide us through our current exhibition. First up,  Tara Fay takes a closer look at More Delicate Things curated by Anna Nelson and Meg Wolensky. Tara is a new board member at BP, mother, feminist, . She is also a store manager and independent curator, who has exhibited at Bunker Projects and Most Wanted Fine Art. Her work is centered around feminism and women's issues.
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Having seen snippets of work from each artist prior to the opening of More Delicate Things in no way diluted the experience of viewing it in its completion. A collaborative effort curated by Pittsburgh’s Anna Nelson, and Philadelphia based artist, Meg Wolensky, it is an entirely mixed-media exhibition. With everything from video installations from Lauren Valley, to an interactive photography collage by Madison Carroll, the show is as diverse as its roster of artists. There’s even a huge hand sewn fabric salad you can play with! The diversity of the show is very specific to the concept; each medium represents a traditionally female form of artistic labor, e.g. the giant salad, called “Pittsburgh Salad”, pieced together by Anna herself. It’s reminiscent of the feminist artists of the 1960’s who aimed to use decorative art and “women’s crafts” as means to represent the female experience.

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Each artist's work is extremely thoughtful and vulnerable; Brittany De Nigris created incredibly fragile hand painted porcelain instillations, which include ‘shelf piece with waves’, an ethereal sculpture/projection. Tabitha Arnold’s knitted textiles are a display of traditional femininity, and photography from the series ‘Film Stills’, by Lora Mathis, emphasizes ‘embracing feelings and the healing process without self-judgement’.

Meg Wolensky contributed work along with her co-curating efforts, including an oil piece titled ‘put a band-aid on it’. Claire Gustavson’s hanging tapestries are soft, in contrast to her keynote presentation about women in the workplace. Anna Shepperson’s display of personalized postcards placed in between flowers in vases gave the space a welcoming feel, inviting dialogue. ​

​"More Delicate Things is a refreshing reminder that its ok to be womanly and soft, and allows us to recognize that in doing so, we are not any less deserving of our efforts being valued."

​Overall, the show clearly conveys themes of vulnerability, and an almost back-to-basics take on feminist art. All of the works are unapologetically gentle, they compel you to view them delicately. Women are oftentimes in a perpetual state of battle, and so we forget to be soft, and delicate, or maybe we feel we aren’t allowed to be. More Delicate Things is a refreshing reminder that its ok to be womanly and soft, and allows us to recognize that in doing so, we are not any less deserving of our efforts being valued.