Contain Your Fear

June 18 – July 23, 2022
Kokol Gallery

Reception:
June 24, 2022
5PM – 7PM
Kokol Gallery

Everyone who has ever lived was afraid of something. Often, fear saves us; it keeps us on the path and in the light. It’s that little voice that warns us, “Don’t get in that car.” Fear of real or perceived threats is an innate emotional response shared by most living creatures. This past year has been very problematic: the pandemic, its economic impact, political upheaval, abrupt changes in our daily lives, and unusual events have amplified fear in most people. Creative people use fear as an incentive for examining reality through their work and to exorcise it.

Contain Your Fear offers new looks at what we fear in our own lives. Each of the fifty-four participants has created one piece of work focusing on a personal fear they want to contain, and maybe, even conquer. Each piece embeds or incorporates a “container” to diminish the power of their fear through the artists’ own interpretation. Their project can be expanded around, on, or even contained within. There are no other restrictions to limit the participants’ imaginations. 

This exhibit features artists from around the U.S., of diverse backgrounds, experiences, and talents ranging from painting, sculpture, essayists, videographers, designers, textile artists, and more. With such a vast array of styles, personalities, and fears, this timely exhibit will reach a wide audience and help people understand that it’s okay to be afraid. And, that a fear, once contained, loses its power.

Vava Buitenkant

Joanne Desmond

Nancy Ferrier

Ellen Hanauer

Lily Konys

Holly Lane

Zia Palmer

Nancy Saleme

Amanda Simons and Lindsay Jones

Shirley Veenema and Mary McCarthy

Marcia Yerman