Award winning regional artist Nina Fletcher exhibits her work at the Mary Cosgrove Dolphin Gallery at Worcester State University. The exhibit, Nina Fletcher: No Limits opened to the public on October 24 with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. On November 7 at 5 p.m., Fletcher will offer a free artist’s talk in the gallery.
Edgy and inventive, Fletcher’s innovative use of materials alerts one to the artistic possibilities of everyday objects. She creates works of astounding beauty from material as diverse as old clothes, shoes, hand bags, wire, bones, buttons, and tissues.
Over her decades-long career, Fletcher’s work frequently returns to images inspired by the body, its frailty and vulnerability in the face of the daily onslaught of stress, wear and tear. These images of the body reveal compelling conceptual content, since they reflect the body’s status as a battleground of contested meanings.
Fletcher’s background is as eclectic as her approach to materials. Born and raised in the Boston area, Fletcher left the area after college to volunteer with the Peace Corps, spending two years in Africa. When she returned, she became a nurse practitioner in California.
It wasn’t until she returned to her New England roots that Fletcher decided to pursue her innermost passion, art. Changing directions, she enrolled at the Massachusetts College of Art where she majored in painting.
Later, she started the artist-run Blackstone Print Studio where she organized and conducted exhibits and workshops to highlight the work of the members of Blackstone Printers.
Her work is well known throughout the region, and she has won numerous awards for her prints and sculptures.
J. Fatima Martins writes in the November/December issue of artscope, New England’s premier culture magazine, “Ladies and Gentlemen be warned: this is serious Art, but we do hope you appreciate the mischief. You are not allowed to touch Nina Fletcher’s handbags unless injury is your pleasure. Likewise, take care in examining her internal reproductive organs, as they require an understanding sensibility; as you can see they appear light and airy but are made of metal. And, if impossibly painful shoes are your fetish, and superhero-woman breastplates or glassy eyeballs with zippered lids excite you, you’ve come to the right place — please enjoy the fantasy, cautiously.”
The exhibit runs through November 21. Regular Gallery hours are Tues.-Fri. 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., Sat. from 1 – 5 p.m. The exhibit is free and open to the public. WOO members earn double WOO points.
The Mary Cosgrove Dolphin Gallery is located in the Ghosh Science and Technology Center, 486 Chandler Street, Worcester MA 01602.
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