nonney oddlokken : tiny, little fables

'FIRST WEDNESDAY' OPENING: 3/7, 7 - 9 P.M.
ARTICULATE ARTIST TALK: SUNDAY, 3/11 AT 4 P.M.

Nonney Oddlokken makes her Baton Rouge Gallery debut with Tiny, Little Fables. These works, deeply inspired by experiences as a child raised by an agoraphobic aunt and her working mother, employ handmade papers, found imagery, embroidery, and hand-stitched gold embellishments. While her mother worked as a waitress, she spent a great deal of time with her aunt who was unable to leave her home due to mental illness. Looking back on this experience, she muses, “What could have been a catastrophic environment was instead turned into a world of magical realism.” For her, her early life was filled with her aunt’s magical creations such as baby birds leaving sticks of gum at the windowsill and a child named “Toots” that lived in the huge pear tree just outside their door. The amalgamation of these memories alongside Catholic references, Cajun folklore and a sprinkle of New Orleans Voodoo have led the artist to her “tiny, little fables.”

A native of New Orleans, Oddlokken initiated an arts enrichment program at Harahan Elementary in Louisiana’s Jefferson Parish and also taught art at Hahnville High School in St. Charles Parish. In 2015, she served as the guest lecturer for the St. Charles Parish School Board Art Teachers’ Career Enrichment program. In addition to her work as a professional artist, she also teaches workshops on creativity as the owner of Curate Studios: Art and Music Experience, a monthly art and music event in New Orleans. Her work has been featured in exhibitions in Louisiana, Mississippi and Illinois.

This exhibition is presented alongside the latest works from Kelly A. Mueller and Jacqueline Dee Parker. It will be open to the public, free of charge, during normal gallery hours (12 - 6 p.m.) March 4 - 29, 2018.