'Build Her a Myth' exhibit coming to North Central

North Central College this winter will showcase a collection of couture dresses by Chicago multimedia artist Carrie Ann Schumacher.

The free exhibit, "Build Her a Myth," runs Dec. 12 through Feb. 1 in the college's Schoenherr Gallery at the Fine Arts Center, 171 E. Chicago Ave., Naperville. An artist reception will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 12.

"Build Her a Myth" features Schumacher's sculpturelike, intricate dresses constructed from pages of old romance novels.

She started using book pages as a medium after coming across a box of discards at her local library. Romance novels, says Schumacher, "are a loaded material; society has already prescribed meaning and significance to romance novels. I simply get to play with those associations and assumptions that are already embedded in the materials."

These new structures look to examine the demands that feminine culture places upon women by using the garment as a social signifier.

Schumacher incorporates seductive beauty elements into the dresses, all the while using these elements to expose feminine myths that have been created and passed down among generations of women.

Schumacher received her master of fine arts in painting from Northern Illinois University and her bachelor of arts in digital media from Elmhurst College. She is a faculty member at Kishwaukee College in Malta, Illinois, where she teaches computer art, introduction to visual arts and digital imaging.

For gallery hours or to learn more about the exhibit, contact Nickole C. Lanham, North Central's gallery director, at (630) 637-5375 or nclanhammurray@noctrl.edu.