Missappropriate Mythologies by Crista Ann Ames

Exhibition dates: November 4th - November 26th, 2022

Opening reception: Friday, November 4th, 5-8pm

Show Description: Missappropriate Mythologies gives a new spin on feminine monuments and sculptures from art history. Using contemporary models and symbolic animals from a different and paradoxical pagan mythology, traveling artist Crista Ann Ames reclaims the female bodies historically created through the lens of the male gaze and recreates new female monuments that are less one-dimensional depictions then their predecessors. 

As a sculptor who works primarily in ceramics, textiles, and wood, Ames finds that the integration of both permanent and impermanent materials conveys her interest in approaching memory, loss, and transformation. Just as the act of remembering transforms an experience into something different, time degrades some elements and leaves others to endure. 

Through the layering of mythology, iconography and personal narrative, Ames’ work explores how our own animal nature relates to the ways we establish and sustain personal relationships.  The artist draws on her own experiences to explore pastoral life, animal husbandry, women’s craft, and fertility.

In bridging the gap between myth and experience, Ames utilizes her artistic practice to create altogether new stories that tell contemporary tales of trauma, joy, and womanhood.