A Catalog of Lovely Things

Story and collaboration by Alicia Bailey and Melinda Laz

September-October, 2007

A Catalog of Lovely Things is an exhibition featuring individual and collaborative works by Denver artists Alicia Bailey and Melinda Laz, Alicia and Melinda met in a printmaking class in 2001, and since then have been informally meeting to discuss the business and concepts of their work.

_ Though they each approach art-making differently, both artists use narrative as an important element in their work. The works in this exhibit are their first collaborative pieces.

Alicia Bailey is known for her work in the book arts, but also produces other 2- and 3-dimensional work. The work she includes in this show is from the series Lovely and Amazing. A tribute to her great-aunt Ruth Wheeler, a beloved biology teacher and feminist who lived and worked in North Denver for 70 years. Ruth found the natural world a place of endless delight. She left behind a collection of biological specimens, letters, and photographs which have been incorporated into a series of three-dimensional collages.

Melinda Laz is a printmaker. Her print techniques include making use of old family photographs by transferring them onto polymer etching plates. Her work in this show is from a series titled Of Fantasy & Make Belief. An ongoing series of works on paper that references fairy tales and other scenes from domestic life. In this narrative series, the characters include vintage photographs of adults and children (many of her own family members) that appear in dream-like situations. The work also explores ideas about domesticity and perceptions of home.

For their collaborative work, the artists worked together in the studio, each incorporating materials and images from their individual projects. The result is a series of mixed-media monoprints created first by their printing together, and then by each taking several of the printed images back to their own studios for completion.