Kathie Olivas, a New Mexico-based artist, explores fear and comfort in her custom toys and paintings. In a show currently running at Stranger Factory Gallery in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the artist offers a new slew of paintings, assemblages, and toys. “Strange Days” runs through May 28 at the space. Through her series “The Misery Children,” the artist takes on “society’s insatiable desire to assign ‘cuteness’ and our discomfort with the unknown.”
“Their world was soft like melancholy. The conversation was silent. Their faces were small and round, incapable of invoking fear. Once the door was open, nothing could be unseen.” This is how Kathie Olivas describes the childlike subjects of her latest exhibition at AFA gallery, “Safe from Tomorrow”. The show boasts a series of 20 new paintings and 16 sculptures inspired by early Americana portraiture. The nostalgia felt by her palette and inspiration is constrasted with a concept set in the future.