Connecticut Gallery Features Sculptures by Stern ’80

Recent sculptures by Melissa Stern ’80 will be shown with work by four other artists at the Bachelier Cardonsky Gallery Open House in Kent, Conn. from May 23 through July 5. The opening is from 4 to 6 p.m. on May 23.

Stern’s work reflects both non-Western and outsider art influences. Her drawings, collages, and figurative sculptures are characterized by their richly drawn and deeply layered surfaces. She uses a wide range of materials from encaustic to clay, pastel to steel.

“All of my pieces share a thematic thread,” Stern says. “Childlike and goofy my figures live in a dream world, cower in relationships or stand tall in the face of adversity. They are at once dark and funny, expressive of the absurd world around them. Gender, relationships and broader social dynamics are subtly intertwined. The personal is the political.”

Stern, of New York, N.Y., considers herself a handyman cobbling together drawings and sculptures from elements found, borrowed and imagined.

The Bachelier Cardonsky Gallery is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and by appointment. For more information call 860-927-3129. Its address is 10 North Main Street.