Just Do It

Kathleen Lolley: Lost, Picking Flowers


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Published: Oct 22, 2008

Through Nov. 23, Art Star, 623 N. Second St., 215-238-1557, artstarphilly.com

(CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

At first, "Lost, Picking Flowers" is nothing terribly special. Cute, no doubt, but the charming woodland creatures (owls, especially) have been done. Spend enough time in Kathleen Lolley's world, however, and things get interesting. Tails are suddenly devilish, the warm autumn tones become foreboding and everyone's eyes look more cautious than precious.

In the show's title acrylic-on-wood piece (pictured), a red caped girl sits at the base of a tree with an armful of flowers, the breeze blowing hair across her solemn face and petals into the air. Birdlike creatures peek out above, but judging from the size of their eyes, they are much larger than her. Another painting, Surprise Friends #2, initially seems overly sweet, with bumblebees checking in on a pod full of baby owls. But the bees do look a little more angry than curious, and the owls don't seem quite at home in this strange nest. A group of less-cuddly critters hitches a ride on panicked sparrows in Little Demons, and the star of Midnight Rendezvous is a close cousin of the flying monkey and/or vampire bat. Either way.

Leave Home is, perhaps, the show's centerpiece. A small family of worried birds depart in an egg helicopter, leaving behind their childhood branches and broken shells. Their former host, a still-naked early-spring tree, cradles their unstable nest and sheds giant blue tears.