Opening Reception: 'Infinite Growth' highlights work of regional LGBTQ+ artists

Lauren LaRocca, The Frederick News-Post, Md.
·2 min read
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May 18—"Infinite Growth" brings together the work of regional LGBTQ+ artists to explore and dissect the limitless space for individuals to encounter and experience love, friendship, bliss, heartbreak, loss and emptiness.

Curated by Jillian Abir MacMaster, the exhibition features the work of Asher Burrows, Mentwab Easwaran, Ruby Bassford, Jamie Gerhold, Ashley Hoffman, Marz Jackson, Molly Marie Nuzzo, Brooklyn Rando, Charlotte Richardson-Deppe and Rebecca Schwartz to consider how growth is cultivated, nurtured and experienced.

The exhibition opening runs from 5 to 8 p.m. May 7 at the FAC Art Center, 5 E. Second St., Frederick, and will feature a curatorial statement from MacMaster, as well as a performance by musical guest Flo Petite beginning at 6 p.m. The exhibition will be on view through Aug. 12.

MacMaster (she/her) is a Palestinian-American photographic artist from Frederick. She holds a BFA in photography from Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. MacMaster is passionate about uplifting her community through art and giving platforms to artists who are historically underrepresented. From 2018 to 2019, she was an organizer of She/They, an artist collective in Frederick that exhibited queer, gender expansive and women artists. Her exhibition work also includes serving as a juror for the Maryland State Arts Council's exhibition Women and Nature in 2020. She exhibits her work regionally and was recently awarded best in show in the Cumberland Valley Photographers Exhibition at the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts in Hagerstown.

The exhibition was juried alongside a panel of scholars, artists, and LGBTQ+ advocates, including Simone Kolysh, a lesbian agender mother of four and a feminist scholar of race, gender and sexuality (simonekolysh.com); Rex Delafkaran is an Iranian-American interdisciplinary artist and dancer from California, currently based in Washington, D.C.; and Glorie Cassutto, a lifelong local of Frederick and program director of The Frederick Center.