Alumna's Multimedia Sculptures Use Found Objects to Explore "Bi-cultural, Bi-continental" Family Life

Using wood, metal and photographs to create hanging sculptures, artist D. Denenge Akpem has assembled "Duyst/Akpem: A Tale of Two Families." The exhibit "spins a visual web of connections" linking Akpem's paternal and maternal families, which trace their lineage to Nigeria and the Netherlands.

The exhibit, which Akpem, a 1997 graduate of Smith, describes as "a multidimensional portrait of the bi-cultural experience," opens Friday, November 5, at the college's Alumnae House Gallery, 33 Elm St., and will be on display through January 2, 2000. Gallery hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The exhibit is presented in conjunction with the college's Otelia Cromwell Day, an annual celebration of Smith's first African-American graduate.

Akpem will be on hand to discuss her work at an opening reception 2-4 p.m., Saturday, November 6.

Akpem, whose father is Tiv-Nigerian and whose mother is Dutch-American, describes herself as "raised by packrats who taught her the value of objects that have passed beyond their most familiar functions." Her work, which has been shown in several U.S. galleries and is held in public and private collections around the world, incorporates such items as sewn copper, rusty nails, retouched photographs, dangling keys, pieces of weathered wood and other items found in her travels. Examples include "Family," a cascade of photographs linked by delicate rings suspended like a windchime, which gives visual testament to the individuals who make up her lineage, and "Duyst," an abstract wood and metal windmill that evokes her mother's family.

The exhibit and opening reception are open to the public at no charge and are wheelchair-accessible.

For more information, call (413) 585-2045.