In the galleries: A 'Homage to Hillary' is repurposed
by Mark Jenkins



Originally billed as a tribute to the first female president, Marsha Mateyka Gallery’s “Homage to Hillary” was retitled “8 Women” after Nov. 8. Nothing else had to change, because the work is apolitical. Nature, architecture and Chopin are among the inspirations for the contributors, all Mateyka regulars.  Most are showing recent work that continues or expands on familiar motifs.

Most enthralling are three pieces by Jae Ko, who transforms rolls of paper into undulating sculptures.  The local artist began by twisting these coils and coloring them black with a mix of ink and glue. She later added white and red to her palette and now, inspired by glaciers, is working in shades of shimmering blue. The forms are less regular than in her earlier work, which is intriguing, but it’s the lush color that registers most strongly.

The show’s oldest items are two photographs by Susan Eder, who poses flowers and butterflies on white backdrops; the results are both clinical and lovely.  More abstractly, Kitty Klaidman celebrates textures of stone, water and tree bark in paintings on paper that further her “Salt Spring Island” series.



Also on display are Nancy Wolf’s painstakingly drawn architectural fantasies, which juxtapose old and new, and East and West; Aline Feldman’s Chopin-fueled abstract woodcut prints; Athena Tacha’s shieldlike assemblages of shells; and Sheila Rotner’s deconstructed squares, made of painted tarpaper.  Where Rotner cuts exactly, Kathleen Kucka makes patterns by burning holes into canvas, which she stretches over a lower layer, usually of a complementary hue.  Like Ko, Kucka is a minimalist with a sensuous touch.

8 Women On view through Dec. 22 at Marsha Mateyka Gallery, 2012 R St. NW. 202-328-0088.