Most Popular
-
Sexual Healing
Sad stories and otherwise freaky tales from Florida's last sexual surrogate
-
To Hug a Porcupine
Three little boys set out to destroy the parents who loved them. This isn't how adoption is supposed to work.
-
Smoked Tuna in the Can
He was the first big bust of the War on Drugs. That and two bits won't get you a cup of coffee.
-
Backbreaker
A half-kilo of blow, machine-gun blasts, and a millionaire chiropractor. Does this make sense?
-
Rubber Doll
Polite businesswoman by day, international fetish icon by night
Blogs
Thu Jul 17, 10:53 AM
Wed Jul 16, 1:39 AM
Fri Jul 18, 5:12 PM
Fri Jul 18, 1:40 PM
Fri Jul 18, 3:03 PM
Fri Jul 18, 12:21 PM
Recent Articles
Recent Articles by Marya Summers
No related articles found
National Features >
Houston Press
What mainstream publishers don't want you to know about door-to-door magazine sales.
By Craig Malisow
Riverfront Times
When these huntresses on are on the prowl, the prey very much wants to be caught.
By Unreal
Broward-Palm Beach New Times
How rumored McCain veep choice Charlie Crist wants to bail out Big Sugar.
By Bob Norman
SF Weekly
Are Asian women getting their jawbones cut to look whiter?
By Lauren Smiley
Perceptual Alchemy
Published on September 13, 2007
Artist Sharon Huff believes that everything happens for a reason and that we can see "beauty and perfection" even in the most tragic circumstances. Versace's murder, Princess Diana's fatal car crash, the devastation of 9/11 — these are all challenges for us to perceive the "beauty in something horrific." A frame shop near the beach may seem like an unlikely place to receive metaphysical guidance, but the artist and frame-shop owner is more than happy to explain both her process and inspiration for "Perceptual Alchemy." Using news photos of these events, the artist zooms in to find a new perspective, abstracting elements to depict in acrylic paintings. From the Versace crime scene ("his last design in his life's blood"), for instance, Huff focuses in on a portion of the steps where his blood has run; the patterns take on an architectural quality ("like ancient Italian ruins"), explored in a larger version in crimson and ochre and a smaller version in violet and aqua. The same process is applied to the burning World Trade Center tower, which, when abstracted and rendered in a wetter application of acrylic and pastel, looks like an impressionistic floral study. Also demonstrating that it's all in how you frame things — both literally and figuratively — Huff transforms beach litter into angelic art, which she showcases in expensive frames under museum-quality glass. Whether created of twisted metal and roofing paper or of cigarette butts and bottle caps, the angels serve as a suggestion that even garbage can be divine. (Through September 30 at Frame 'n Art Gallery, 263 Commercial Blvd., Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. Call 954-267-9202.)