Fri 8/5 @ 6-9PM
Bridget Caswell, who s a photographer at the NASA Glenn Center, is also known for her perceptive portraiture.
For her new show, Contrast Contoured, which will be on view at three locations in the Waterloo Arts District, she’s turned her camera on the area burlesque and drag scene, with a focus on GBTQ+ performers. More than 60 of her images go on view at the Maria Neil Art Project, which is presenting the show, the Space: ROCK Gallery and the former Music Saves space.
These portraits, taken over the last few years, show performers both in their stage get-ups and as themselves off stage. The portraits are accompanied by the artists’ words, explaining who they are and what they do. Caswell is also releasing a book of the same name, featuring her pictures.
“A lot of the humanity is lost in the shadows because we don’t allow ourselves to sparkle and shine and be seen,” she says. “Drag and Burlesque are the art of shining in all your gloriousness, highlighting your favorite parts of yourself and creating a limitless character that is your best you. They get to be the fabulousness they want to see in the world. When the song is over, they exist the stage and go back to being their multifaceted selves. But they bring the fabulous sparkle of possibility with them everywhere they go.”
The show opens during the August Walk All Over Waterloo, Friday August 5 @ 5-9pm and runs through Friday October 7. It will be on view during the Ohio Burlesque Festival, Thursday August 11 and Saturday August 13 @ 5-7pm.