Key West Florida Weekly

Hand-crafted nutcrackers, ‘Portable Memories’ exhibition and a photography show

Opening at The Studios of Key West

“Portable Memories and Rising Seas” exhibition.

“Portable Memories and Rising Seas” exhibition.

The Studios of Key West opens three new exhibitions during this month’s First Thursday event on Nov. 1 from 6-8 p.m. “Portable Memories and Rising Seas” by Lisa Bulawsky and Laurencia Strauss opens in the Sanger Gallery, “I Don’t Want to Lose Her” by Agnieszka Pestka opens in the XOJ Gallery, and “Nutcracker Key West” opens in the Zabar Project Gallery.

“Portable Memories and Rising Seas” is a multi-media project about sea level rise presented by Fifty-Fifty, the artist collective founded by Bulawsky and Strauss. In an interactive forum, community members are asked to respond by creating simple drawings, which then become a part of the exhibition itself.

“Key West is a place of intense vulnerabilities and ingenuities that tells the story of rising seas better than most,” says Strauss, who was captivated by the island’s unique ecology when she was an artist-in-residence in The Studios of Key West’s early years. “This exhibition uses memory and imagination to help address the challenging realities of climate change.”

Photograph by Angieszka Pestka.

Photograph by Angieszka Pestka.

Opening in the third floor XOJ Gallery, “I Don’t Want to Lose Her” is a photography and mixed-media exhibition by Polish-Born, New York-based artist Agnieszka Pestka. Fascinated by themes of reality and fantasy, Pestka incorporates feminine subjects into many of her works.

“When we meet someone, we create somebody that doesn’t really exist,” says Pestka. “As we get to know them, our fantasy is challenged and inevitably, that image disappears.”

Pestka’s stunning imagery explores the question of whether we choose to keep that creation alive or replace it with reality.

A collection of hand-painted, artisan-crafted nutcrackers will be on display in the Zabar Project Gallery.

Sculptor Tom Joris cast 12 plaster Conch Nutcrackers from the original mold of the nutcracker used in “Nutcracker Key West.” These nutcrackers inspired local artists and artisans, who have embellished, painted and re-imagined them as one-of-a-kind works of art.

Hand-painted nutcracker by artist Carl Hower.

Hand-painted nutcracker by artist Carl Hower.

Everyone has a chance to own one by buying into the auction. Funds raised benefit Key West’s most enduring children’s production, “Nutcracker Key West,” and the restoration of its set.

The public is invited to the opening reception at The Studios of Key West, 533 Eaton Street. The shows remains on view through Nov. 29. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday. ¦

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