Beyond dermatology

 “Somber Skin” (detail), (cheesecloth, acrylic, sawdust, string), by Sylvia Vander Sluis, in her joint “Material Witness’ show with Virginia (Ginny) Mahoney, opening in June at Fountain Street Fine Art, Boston. Ms. Sluis’s studio is in Lancaster, Mass.

The gallery says of her work:

“Sylvia Vander Sluis unites contradictory materials in visceral forms that reflect the human condition. Industrial and domestic media are combined in raw, emotional constructions. Inspired by the folds of rosin paper, the transparency of cheesecloth, and the grit of gravel, Vander Sluis creates metaphors for the dualities of life. In one sculpture, plaster gauze holds Styrofoam precariously on structures of willow branches. Her work honors both the fragility and strength of the human spirit.”

First Church of Christ in Lancaster. It was designed by famed architect Charles Bulfinch and built in 1815–1817.