As the title "Face Off" implies, confrontation and exposure are involved in the creation and observation of Amy Liv Laing's and Kate Ledogar's portraits. The exhibit runs from May 30 to June 30 in the TCAN gallery and viewers are invited to confront and celebrate the revealed essences of the people portrayed.

Amy's colorful work includes collage as well as drawing and oils. She uses color and selective distortion or exaggeration to "add strangeness to drawings, find things that make them weirder or add meaning to what might already exist in the pose or the person." If she were labeling herself, Amy might say that she is an "Expressurrealist." Her most recent drawings include a series of self-portraits inspired by the annual school photos of her childhood.

Kate is showing two 6'x7' multi-panel paintings, "Me," which is composed of 30 one-foot-square self-portraits, and "Them," which features 30 one-foot-square portraits of friends and relatives. She is also showing a group of paintings, "The World," which features two paintings from her "Ladies in Dresses" series, and three others. The paintings in "The World" are fairly narrative and often feature the same characters. Kate describes these characters as "personal archetypes, working things out for themselves".

Everyone is welcome to come to a reception for the artists on Sunday, June 3rd, from 1 to 3 PM in the TCAN gallery at 31 Main Street, Natick. Refreshments will be served. Directions to TCAN, gallery hours, and performance information are available by calling 508-647-0097, or at www.natickarts.org. The art is in the same venue as the performances and can also be enjoyed while attending these events.

Press Contact: Cheryl Litster, visarts@natickarts.org