The second show in the new art gallery is by mixed media artist Cristina Rosa Nelson. Based in Jamaica Plain, Nelson combines her academic expertise in history and gender theory with her multicultural background through whimsical, multivalent collages and assemblages. She collects objects and paper ephemera incessantly, accumulating medical textbook pages, vintage illustrations, animal figurines, environmental detritus, and various thrifted bric-a-brac. These components are then brought together in two- and three-dimensional mixed media creations, each layered with characters and symbols at once familiar and strange. As the title suggests, Nelson considers her work iconoclastic, smashing together recognizable historical figures, fashion models, fantastical creatures, and traditional monuments with irreverence, critique, and at times a cheeky sense of humor. However, it is also plastic, open to many interpretations as each viewer brings their own experience, knowledge, and perspective to the work.

IKONOPLASTIC is on view from July 7 through August 31, 2017. This exhibition is sponsored by the Friends of the Jamaica Plain Branch Library.