Innermost: a new two-person photography exhibition by Melonie Mulkey and Sara Fahling in the Art League Gallery, South Bend Museum of Art.
Exhibition Dates: January 13- March 19, 2023.
Reception: Friday, February 3, 2023 with a Meet the Artists Gallery Talk from 6-6:45pm in the Art League Gallery (SBMA).
Sara Fahling
Pearl | Portraits of Consciousness (2022)
Custom bound artist book, inkjet prints on Belgian linen and silk organza, silk habotai, cotton broadcloth, chiffon, embroidery thread
Melonie Mulkey
Mystical Rose (2022)
Three-panel archival inkjet prints
Innermost, a new two-person exhibition in the Art League Gallery of SBMA, explores themes of interiority, both physical and mental. Inspired by mystical theology and texts regarding states of the soul and its longing to connect withthe divine, Mulkey uses place as a metaphor for contemplating what is hidden inside the self. Creating diorama sets for the camera and creative lighting techniques, Mulkey’s constructed photographs aim to bring an emotional and reflective experience to the viewer. In Sara Fahling’s embroidered photographs, pensive stitching accumulates over each subject, revealing how mental health can affect one’s ability to remember over time. Fahling’s work focuses on legacy, the fragility of memory, and how photographs construct personal histories, expanding beyond the photographic into book arts and textile-based imagery. Seeing the photograph as a tactile object that allows people to physically hold places and memories, she intends her work to be held and observed through touch, sight, and smell.
Melonie Mulkey has exhibited in numerous exhibitions nationally and internationally in places such as Filter Photo Gallery in Chicago, JanKossen Contemporary Gallery in New York, Ft. Wayne Museum of Art in Indiana, Millepiani Gallery in Rome, Italy, and the CICA Museum in South Korea. She has also received several awards and has been included in publications such as Loosen Art, Manifest, and Studio Visit Magazine. She received her MFA in 2019 from the University of Notre Dame and currently teaches at Holy Cross College in Notre Dame, Indiana.
Sara received her MFA in 2018 from Indiana University Bloomington and has exhibited nationally and internationally in places such as Arc Gallery in San Francisco, A Smith Gallery in Johnson City, Texas, Millepiani Gallery in Rome, Italy, Foundry Art Centre, St. Charles, MO, and Antenna Media, Kyoto, Japan. She has been included in publications such as Photo Trouvée Magazine and has received several awards. Currently, she works as a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Notre Dame.
Join us for the First Friday Reception and Meet the Artists gallery talk with Melonie Mulkey and Sara Fahling on Friday, February 3, 2023. Reception from 5-9pm; Gallery Talk from 6-6:45pm. All events free and open to the public.
