Last Chance

Catch it or Regret It

by Holly Otterbein

(CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

Laurel Wood Ramsden's acrylic paintings are feel-good depictions of family reunions, summer vacations and Saturday night parties. Ramsden employs primary colors and a simple, straightforward technique to express an almost childlike view of her surroundings. But not all of her pieces are sugary and innocent: In the slightly creepy To Whom Under the Sun Do We Owe Anything? a moon, globe, feather and eyeball mingle inside a bird's nest.

In this group show, 12 local and international artists bring the traditional medium of clay into the complex, digital world. They use the material to explore Internet culture, technological advancement and digital anonymity. Made from screen-printed tiles, Megumi Naitoh's B2081 is a modern-day mosaic of a blurry, pixilated human face. In Abby Donovan's claymation video HA/this, a ceramic, bubble-gum pink worm wriggles its groove thing across a wooden floor.

More than 150 clay artists tackle subjects such as cookie-cutter architecture, fairy tales, Mao Zedong and '60s pop art in this group exhibit. Vanessa Grubbs makes clay political in Baby Making, a 2-foot jug with the question "Who gets to choose her method of contraception?" carved into its dirt-brown side. In David S. East's Grand View, a bland, windowless house rests on a strip of Astroturf.