Exploring intimacy

“Sam in the Studio,’’ by Barbara Ishikura, in the show “Frippery, Finery, Frills: Works in Conversation,’’ with Sam Fields at the Southern Vermont Arts Center, Manchester, Vt., July 1-Sept. 24. Both artists are Massachusetts-based.

The gallery says:

“Drawing from historicized images of women in art, fiction, and our collective imagination, Barbara Ishikura and Sam Fields explore intimacy through imagery, process, and materials.

“Sam Fields is a multimedia artist who creates intricate, layered sculptures. In her work, crocheted ruffle upon ruffle, beads, sequins, lace, and embroidery elevate what has been traditionally considered low brow in western society.

“In her paintings, Barbara Ishikura depicts women who display their unabashed sexuality and crass pleasures. Their presence within beautiful and refined interior spaces creates tension.

“Using a visual language associated with the feminine and traditionally viewed as unsophisticated, their work celebrates and reclaims an opulence of ornament, a particular aesthetic of glorious beauty. These artists are giving form and color to domestic objects and intimate spaces in order to expand what women’s sexuality and being can look, feel, smell, sound, and taste like.’’

#Barbara Ishikura

#Sam Fields