Concrete and artificial flowers, friendly cotton and luxurious silk are a few of the unique materials displayed at Chocolate Church Art Gallery, located at 804 Washington Street in Bath. “Feel the Weight,” Curated by mother-daughter duo Nika and Salley Knight, is the whimsical and thought-provoking end-of-summer show that opens Aug. 11 through Sept. 23. 

The “Feel the Weight” art exhibit features three Maine-connected textile artists exploring the weight of personal memory, history, culture, and identity through a wide and eclectic variety of materials. 

On the floor, sculptures by Veronica A. Perez make use of often overlooked or maligned materials—fake flowers, wig hair, concrete—and combine them to create inventive, thought-provoking new forms.

“I take inspiration from drag queens, chachkies, flamingos, wearing your heart on your sleeve, late nights on the Jersey shore, construction zones on the highway, the color pink, fake flowers and other things that society deems unimportant or nontraditional,” says Perez, who was born in New Jersey and is currently based in South Portland. “I find sincerity and power in that.“

On the walls, Portland-based textile artist Isabelle O’Donnell uses a variety of cloths and dyes to create intricate, considered textile works inspired by the colors, patterns, and textures of the materials at hand. 

“I situate myself as an artist within a growing lineage of contemporary painters whose work deals with painting’s intrinsic connection to textiles and craft, exploring its conceptual implications regarding feminism and labor, process and material, and pattern and ornamentation,” explains O’Donnell. 

Finally, an expansive, hand-dyed silk wall installation and colorful silk paintings by artist and co-curator Salley Knight explore memories of childhood in Maine and Virginia. Like O’Donnell and Perez, Knight derives inspiration from her materials. 

“My art is about color: color as it first appears as light, washing over everything; color as it randomly and playfully is ascribed to children’s illustrations; color as it is altered in the artwork itself according to how the light illuminates the fabric,” Knight says. “Color as something that is named but never fixed.”

Colors, patterns, textures, and weight: in “Feel the Weight,” the limitations and potential of physical materials inspires wild, beautiful, and entertaining artworks.