Cambridge – “Duality”, the title of guest artist Susan Holt’s show at Main Street Gal-lery, is a theme she has been working on for many years and is, she says, inspired by Buddhism. The Maryland artist, who is also an art pro-fessor and Director of the Mosely Gallery at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, describes duality as the “illusion of separateness”.
“In our world today”, she says, ”the concept of irreconcilable binary op-posites has particular political and social relevance.” However, the artist believes that “holding simultaneously two apparently contradictory ideas allows us to go deeper and explore the ‘grey areas’ of intersection, commonality and nondualism.”
To translate the ideas of duality into visual art for her show, Susan is cre-ating formal, abstract works and employing text. In one of the gallery’s large, paned windows, she will create a site specific installation. She will use translucent fabric to recreate another layer of the ordered, mathe-matical grid pattern and juxtapose it with the chaos of an organic line that weaves in and out of the hanging structure. Her drawing, “Us/Them” will be incorporated into the piece. She invites viewers to explore the imagery and also reflect on the underlying concepts.
Susan Holt, who was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, earned a BFA in painting from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. After graduat-ing she worked as a graphic designer and moved to Europe, settling in Rome. It was there she met her Chilean husband and raised a family while teaching English and doing free-lance design work. On returning to the US she received her MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Over the years her work has varied in media, style and intention but common threads connect it. More recently she has collaborated on pieces based, she says, on “collective memory and construction of a sense of place.”
“Duality” will open on Friday, February 28 and run through Sunday, April 26, 2020. The member artists of the Main Street Gallery will also be showing their work. There will be two artist receptions on Second Saturdays, March 14 and April 11 from 5-8 pm at the gallery at 518 Poplar St., direct-ly across from Jimmie and Sooks Restaurant. All are invited and light re-freshments will be served. For more information, please call the gallery at: 410-330-4659 or visit the website: www.mainstgallery.org.
Main Street Gallery is Cambridge’s only artist-owned and run cooperative and is currently reviewing work from prospective members. Please contact the Gallery if you are interested in being a part of this vibrant artist community.