Catalogue of Undeliverables Exhibition

This past Thursday Ugis and I took a short trip up to Charleston to check out the two person show Catalogue of Undeliverables at Rick Rhodes Photography and Imaging.  The show featured Mixed Media work by Trevor Webster and Collages by my good friend Liz Vaughan.

The gallery described the show as "...based around lost or broken communication from emotional turmoil, heartbreak and short comings of social structures."  This was epitomized by a collaborative project between Webster and Vaughan in which they sent each other dozens handmade, drawn, mono-printed and written postcards, often working right over each others creations and sending them back.

The solo work of the two artists complemented each other very well, despite the different sensibilities in the work. 

Liz Vaughan, Tumbleweed Silos, Collage and Mixed Medi 

Vaughan's collages are comprised of imagery she creates using historical photographic processes such as cyanotypes, along with found objects, parts of maps, and even dried plants. There is a feeling of shared history and personal reflection in her quietly intricate pieces.

Trevor Webster, Psychodiagnostik, Mixed Media, Acrylic,
Enamel, Ink

Webster's mixed media work is laden with text and numbers, overlaid with Rorschach-esque monoprints and a thick, reflective coating of clear resin.  There is a sense of searching in vain through the layers to decipher some important message.  The careful and deliberate handwriting helps to convey this urgency for understanding.  The overall impression of Webster's work is futuristic, but it is the vintage future of the 1950's, idealistic yet ominously uncertain.