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Hidden identities

Signatures Gallery to exhibit
Youngblood’s ‘Behind the Mask’

Each painting centers upon
a young lady with a mask

Staff Report

VEVAY, Ind. (December 2009) – Signatures of Switzerland County in Vevay will play host to an opening reception on Friday, Dec. 4 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. to mark the premier of Madison, Ind. artist Jenny Straub Youngblood’s latest group of paintings.

Jenny Straub Youngblood

Photo provided

Jenny Straub
Youngblood’s “Behind
the Mask” exhibit
explores the dynamic between reality
and perception.

Jenny Straub Youngblood Art

The exhibit, titled “Behind the Mask,” consists of eight vibrant, dreamlike paintings that explore the dynamic between reality and perception, sincerity and deceit, and the interaction between animal and human worlds.
Each painting centers upon a young lady with a mask. Youngblood meticulously crafted the masks depicted in the paintings. She then photographed and sketched models posing with her masks as a basis for the final work.
As to the symbolism of the masks, the artist elaborates, “I am mesmerized by man’s ability to feel one way but portray something else. This series explores the complex beings that humans are.”
Youngblood drew much of her inspiration from one of her favorite movies, the 1986 Jim Henson-Brian Froud-George Lucas production, “Labyrinth.”
“I was particularly inspired by the ballroom scene in Labyrinth when Sarah dances with the Goblin King (David Bowie). It is a masquerade ball, and they are the only people there not wearing masks. The people in the masks seem to be mocking her,” says Youngblood.
The models in her paintings each shares the composition with a creature from the animal kingdom with which they seem to possess a familiar kinship.
Stylistically, the paintings explore the realm of surrealism- a marked departure from the artist’s usual straightforward style of portraiture. In the eighth painting, the artist depicted herself, and unlike the other figures, she is not wearing her mask, but holding it, as if revealing her true self.

• Behind the Mask will be on display through Dec. 30. Signatures of Switzerland County is located at 120 W. Main St., in Vevay. For more information, call (812) 427-2024.

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