Kaitlin Kostus is in her thesis year in Interdisciplinary Book and Paper Arts, but before the MFA show opens, she’s set to make her mark on Chicago’s art landscape this March, when her solo show, “The One Who Rises: New Work by Kaitlin Kostus,” featuring works on paper, wood, and sculpture opens at Women Made Gallery on March 2.
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Kostus, whose thesis work focuses on the tensions between Eastern European ethnic identity and nostalgia for moments that never existed, will present an exciting exhibition of work at the Milwaukee Avenue gallery. Pieces in the exhibition draw on Baltic Pagan mythology to explore connections to Baltic cultures through Kostus’s ethnic background (Lithuanian), and her culture gained through marriage (Latvian). Stories, symbols, and deities from these Baltic countries are re-interpreted through her contemporary viewpoint. Artificial neon colors collide with images of nature, while real deer antlers do so with semi-natural materials like industrial wood and jute twine.
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The exhibition runs from March 2–April 26, with an opening reception on March 2, 6:00–9:00 p.m.