This month, MFA Illustration alum Niky Motekallem ’16 and Illustration mentor Allegra Lockstadt participated in a group show at the Public Functionary gallery in Minneapolis entitled “CLAWS: 16 Illustrators grappling with their obsessions.” The exhibition was inspired by the hauntingly accurate David Foster Wallace quote,“Everything I’ve ever let go of has claw marks on it.”

Motekallem and Lockstadt also participated in two panel discussions on the Saturday morning after the opening, exploring the topics of process, client relationships, and commercial success in the world of illustration. Lockstadt, a host as well as a participant, featured works on her obsession with mineral gems, and Motekallem displayed pieces from her MFA thesis project on the topic of Ohio.

From CLAWS: “Obsession grips, lures, rules, and defines—especially for image makers, as they are an easy target for obsessive thoughts, often falling prey to a peculiar state of hyper-focused work, dedicated to a single person, thing, color, feeling, culture, condition, pattern, shape, place, or idea. This fall, Allegra Lockstadt and Meghan Murphy invite their favorite illustrators to let go, and unleash their most haunting obsessions into a group gallery show. Hosted by Public Functionary, the show will explore mermaids, scars, Japanese food, the color pink, depression, giant ladies eating things, the state of Ohio, and more.”

Both the show and the discussion panels were highly attended and a great success! Gallery hours were extended to accommodate demand.

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For more information:

CLAWS
Illustrator Pop-Up
Public Functionary
Niky Motekallem
Allegra Lockstadt