The new work at Klowden Mann lures you with funky, amiable gorgeousness: lush colors and textures. But then you begin to realize what you’re looking at. She doesn’t paint current atrocities, but artifacts of paleoconservative, libertarian, commercial or technological discourse behind it. “Discourse” literally: slogans, names, words.
The main series paints the covers of the paperback books distributed circa 1961 by the John Birch Society collectively titled “One Dozen Candles”. Each painting is heavily encrusted with melted candles. “Seeds of Treason” is the high point. It’s beautiful; but they’re all compelling.
The watercolors tend towards monochrome, highlighting the fact that she really can draw.
The “Ephemerisle” vinyl banners added a bright, crisp contrast, both in color and their genial spoofy mood.
The Malheur Refuge drawings take on another strain of utopianism: conservation. KH documents the gruesome, urban infrastructure that paradoxically comes with the idea of a nature preserve.
“Voting Booth Soft Sculpture” was my immediate favorite. Pathos, outrage, wit. It’s fabricated with an endearingly improvised directness. Goofy and alarming. I was not afraid of it, though I should be.