Ambiguous charms of domesticity

“Martindale” (wood, fabric, vintage wallpaper, latex paint, polymer clay, solvent transfer, encaustic), by Boston-based artist Chelsea Revelle, in the show “Perspectives; Art from MFA {Boston Museum of Fine Arts} Staff’’ at the Copley Society of Art, Boston, through May 4.

— Photo courtesy Copley Society of Art

Revelle uses assemblage and embroidery to examine themes of the home, childhood play and the psychological impact of domesticity.

'Repository of joy and pain'

"Simpler Times," by Chelsea Revelle, in the show (which you can see online) “The New Nostalgia,’’ at Fountain Street Fine Art, Boston, through May 24.

The gallery says:

“These days, with mundane freedoms temporarily off-limits, it’s tempting to reminisce, to dwell on rosy ephemeral memories of a better time. The ways we remember affect us as we experience the uncomfortable present and forge ahead into an uncertain future.

“For artists Brenda Cirioni, Patty deGrandpre, Chelsea Revelle, Alexandra Rozenman, Rebecca Skinner, Sylvia Vander Sluis, the past is a reservoir, a repository of joy and pain in a complex relationship with our own private histories. Their work illuminates the cracks in the veneer of idealized past emotions and experiences and creates space for us to re-examine our relationship with the past and inform our experience of the present.’’

Couldn't someone else change the lightbulb?

‘Forget-Me-Not,’’ by Chelsea Revelle, in the group show “Read Between the Lines,’’ at Fountain Street gallery, Boston, through Dec. 22