Join 2015 ICP-Bard student Kimberly J. Wade at the MFA Studios for her solo thesis exhibition Red Maple.

Opening Reception
February 5 | Thursday | 6–9 pm

On View
February 6–8 | Friday–Sunday | 2–6 pm

Artist Statement

The images and materials in Red Maple speak to the growth and changes my son and I experienced in 2014. Lance turned fourteen, grew over 6 inches and already  stands two inches taller than me. The teenage mixture of high-pitched squeaks and deep-throated mumbles has taken the whole year to become familiar. As I look at this boy who’s no longer a little boy, I wonder will he see what I see in him? Will he stand confident in his intelligence but also in his humor, his quirks and his passion and knowledge of military airplanes? Am I doing all that can to prepare him and how can I really protect this boy who’s moving further away from being my little boy?

As I record how Lance’s gangly body moves throughout our home, I turn the camera towards the changes within my own body. Once very uncomfortable with being in front of the lens, cancer concerns in my breast and uterus as well as chronic lower leg pain inspire candid yet fragmented images as I consider my womanhood, my beauty and physical abilities.