"I Am Aimless and Hungry Always" - Pauline Lim

By Sanjeev Selvarajah

Brickbottom art gallery is hosting the “Strange World” art exhibit at their Fitchburg Street location this month.

Sherry Autor is one of the artists of the show as well as curator, and originator of its creation. “I was thinking about all that has been going on in the past few years; so that made me think that this is a really strange world we’re living in,” she said. Her show is her global kick in the pants and the art featured follows suit by existing as strikingly real abstractions.

Real because of the sensual quality that is attained upon first glimpse of the work. Real because some of the pieces feature techniques like back drops, mosaics, and collage that achieve a three dimensional quality. It doesn’t parallel the recent resurgence of such viewing in cinema but it does help the subconscious animal-id get a head start in the imagination, prior to the viewer’s reflexive cognitive instinct.

Pauline Lim the artist of “I Am Aimless and Hungry Always” commented on some of the techniques she uses to allude to depth of field: “I wanted to practice using perspective in the background drawing. I looked at photographs of old European cities where the buildings are tightly packed in towards the roads, which meander at crazy angles”.

The anthropomorphic dog businessman alludes to the industrious laboring business class that finds the time to relieve himself, walking across the street, with a  bottle of wine in hand. Clock Is Ticking is another laudable exercise into her work that leaps off the frame. Some of the characters are a car racer, a dead monk, a teddy bear, and a baby bird, and they all, an array of serendipitous fortune stand out because of a shrewd illustrative method.

“I had recently gotten into mosaics and I wanted to explore the combination of using paint in a traditional way, over which I had more control over he illusion of depth” said Lim.

Autor herself uses a layered technique with collage, the work “Hot Target” based upon layout and even curvature of the leg adds a  very effective design that contorts and toys with perspective.

When featuring pop culture icons, featured artist Bette Blank doesn’t shirk away from the celebratory. “I like popular culture,” she says “People that are over the top. Marilyn Monroe. Madonna. Freud also- even though he’s a little stuffy.” Her “Madonna Sketch” art piece screams in a fury in the background where the words to “Like A virgin” are written; in front, an emblematic item of the Fury herself is featured prominently- her infamous coned bustier. “The world is interested in ordinary things, like garments” says Blank.

In contrast to the memorabilia and darling attributes of pop idols, Jessica Hess wants to tear everything down. Of Marilyn Monroe Bette Blank says, “I am interested in her because she embodies vulnerability and sexuality at the same time.”

Jessica Hess, on a good day, packs a crow bar and a sledgehammer with her if her “Demolition I” work is any Judge. Upon asking if the character to the top right of the painting is a foreign word, she immediately says “no.” And casually includes, “It’s a lower portion of a graffiti artist’s tag. Graffiti is a way of destruction and creativity all at the same time.”

Hess was an artist’s assistant for a while and even aided Autor in her work. “She’s expressive and creative and really colorful, says Jessica about Sherry. And indeed she puts on a good presentation, one that is beyond competent, and should exist in Somerville’s memory as a group show that comes bearing gifts.

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The art discussed work here can be seen on http://brickbottomartists.com/gallery_current