While the gallery was closed to the public, we invited artist and educator Cat Bowyer to utilize the gallery as a studio. Through ritualistic modes of making, the gallery became a temple where she created altars of play. The works are in part satire of patriarchal institutions, but also represent a survival technique through the pure joy of play. The icon of a column ‘composed under pressure’ represents the constant stress and uneasiness in professional life and womanhood. This program will present some of Bowyer’s works ahead of the culminating exhibition later this spring.

Cat Bowyer is an artist based in Chicago, IL. She teaches art, manages a few studio classrooms, and creates work in a variety of mediums where the body is usually included in the foundation of ideas. Cat also holds a BA from Purdue University in Fine Art & Education.