Keri Oldham’s ‘Labyrinth’: Fashion, Demons, and the Search Within Ouselves

Brook­lyn-based artist Keri Old­ham has recent­ly opened her lat­est solo exhi­bi­tion at Kirk Hop­per Fine Art in Dal­las, Texas. Enti­tled Labyrinth, her beau­ti­ful water­col­or paint­ings are an alle­gor­i­cal series that’s inspired by the 1980 cult-clas­sic film, as well as the ancient myth of the Minotaur.

The gallery describes the work in Ker­i’s show as com­bin­ing “images of demons and war­riors with trag­ic fig­ures and vic­to­ri­ous ones. With armored women at its cen­ter, these pieces spin a new sto­ry on The­seus enter­ing the maze and con­fronting the beast with­in.” The allur­ing pieces fuse medieval beasts with fash­ion and fan­ta­sy, rep­re­sent­ing inner tur­moil and desires the many of us feel—to find mean­ing and suc­cess in our adult lives.

I love both the con­cept of Labyrinth and the style of Ker­i’s at-times grotesque paint­ings. They’re cre­at­ed with pig­ment, graphite, and applied paper pulp, adding these bril­liant tex­tures to her dizzy­ing col­ors and patterns.

If you’re in Dal­las, check out her exhi­bi­tion! It’s up until Novem­ber 14 of this year.