Negative Space

Dominique Elkind studied painting at the Kansas City Art Institute, where she dealt with various pigments and color-design principles. Yet her current work is monochromatic. “If I do color things, I usually think of them as studies for the drawings,” she says. “I kind of feel like I work backwards — the drawing is the actual work, and color work is just a study for how I’d do it in black and white.”
Last spring, she exhibited a series of erotic drawings, rendered with her characteristic fine, sinewy line work. The underlying concept was subtle: “They were a way to penetrate into the girls’ private space,” she says. “The idea was that the drawings were about their fantasy space, how they imagined themselves, instead of their physical selves.” Through October 7, Elkind exhibits a new series at the Late Show Gallery (1600 Cherry, 816-474-1300). Evoking circus posters and reminiscent of imagery from Susannah Clarke’s Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, the drawings depict the participants of a fantastic 18th-century procession. Theatrically clad figures are ranged in serpentine compositions across the heavy rag paper Elkind favors. As in the last exhibit, the unseen is an important factor to the artist. “There’s a patriarchal figure in my mind who directs the processions, but he’s never seen,” she says.

Sept. 20-Oct. 4, 2007