New Algoma Gallery Begins with Mopping up

Yardstick, a new bookstore and gallery in downtown Algoma, presents Mopping Up, an exhibit of new work by Melissa Dorn. The exhibit, heavily influenced by industrial mop heads, comments on issues around labor, women’s work and abstraction.

While reading 33 Artists in 3 Acts by Sarah Thornton, Dorn came across the word “mop.”  She couldn’t get the word out of her head. “Mop is a funny word. It’s short,” Dorn explains, “but it feels alive. If you repeat it over and over again in your head, then start saying it aloud, it sounds funny and then becomes even funnier.” Now, from hair to labor to feminism, Dorn realizes the endless possibilities of mops.

Dorn works between painting and sculpture. She infuses common objects, things often overlooked, with humor and animating textures. Dorn, who earned her BFA from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, has been making art in Milwaukee for more than 20 years. She is represented by Frank Juarez Gallery.

The exhibit runs Oct. 5 – Nov. 2, with a reception Oct. 5, 5-8 pm. Yardstick is located at 317 Steele Street, Algoma. For more information email [email protected] or call 785.917.9628.