“Pre Post Poetic” at The Appleton

I had no idea what to expect when I first laid eyes on the artwork of Debora Greger at the Appleton Museum of Art in Ocala, FL. Of course, the curators at the AMA know exactly what they’re doing and I was blown away! Upon entering the gallery space, I was instantly transported to a world in which surreal images were set against dark backgrounds typical of the Golden Age of Dutch Baroque painting. That said, nothing about these artworks could be labeled “typical.”

“Pre Post Poetic: Hand-Stitched Collages by Debora Greger” is a collection of works that checks off a lot of my favorite creative and artistic references. Collage? Check. Surreal images? Yup. Dutch Baroque still life references? You betcha’. Poetry? Yes, please. An overwhelming feeling of existential uncertainty? Most definitely.

During challenging times, it is not unusual for creative folks to change their artistic practices in order to help process the big feelings that accompany life-altering events. One could argue, that poet Deborah Greger is not abandoning literature for the visual arts, she’s just using a new medium. Her hand-stitched collages are still poems-she’s just using visual images cut out of paper instead of adjectives and nouns. This allows the viewer to be an active participant in the art-making process as each visitor can provide their own words to tell the story of what they see depicted in each collage.