*these shows close Saturday so hurry up and go visit!* After getting my butt kicked in a circuit class at VIDA fitness, I decided to take advantage of the sun and slightly warmer temperatures. I wanted to check out the Hillyer Art Space before the shows close. I was particularly interested in Fawna Xiao's Half Wild exhibit, but I was presently surprised by the other exhibits also up. I walked down U street and took a left at Florida, then a left down Hillyer Court. I passed the Senegal Embassy and some nice looking homes.

The sign says to enter through the garage, so I did. The first exhibit is Greg Braun who uses matte board and gypsum dry wall to create spaces within spaces. I loved the starkness and the shadow play. It was really fun to see his hand drawn sketches and preliminary scale models; the sketches being particularly illuminating because they were on those freebie type pads of paper you get at hotels and such.

The next room is filled with bright JD Deardourff screenprints that are amazing. I initially hated them, but the more I pondered how he created them and the colors he was able to make the more I fell in love. Inspired by the collages he made out of comic book splash pages, Deardourff recreated the essence of the comic book art through mimicking the pre-computer CMYK method with screenprinting. I really wanted to take a piece home with me.

The last gallery is of Fawna Xiao's work, the whole reason I went in the first place. I really enjoyed her minimal approach to color and the texture she got out of her prints. It was reminiscent of wood block prints, yet very delicate and complicated. Contemporary like 3D printing, but old school like foam sponges. Her and her dad built all the frames by hand and her prints are all single editions.

I really enjoyed the space and I hope to see more shows at Hillyer! Check out there website for upcoming exhibitions and events.

Sometimes, meat really, really disgusts me. Not just how it is handled and processed, nor the industry that enables us to eat it (I have yet to read Every Twelve Seconds: Industrialized Slaughter and the Politics of Sight), but the pure carnality of it is sometimes shocking.

Cowhide on the other hand, is fascinating. I know it isn't really like using all the parts of an animal, but I like to think that by utilizing already existing cowhide you are being somewhat sustainable. If I ever got over my inability to look at raw meat for long periods of time, I would be interested in raising a calf and then, when the time comes, use every part of its body like my mom's family did when she was little (though, it did kind of scar her for life. I, instead had goats growing up and we never had to eat them). For now, I'll stick with eating eggs from my parent's chickens, and maybe finding a use for their fallen feathers.

South African sculptor Nandipha Mntambo also has a fascination for cowhide, creating ghastly yet beautiful fashion-forward sculptures out of them. Read more about her work in this article on Art Practical and hear her speak at this SFAI Visiting Artist Lecture event on Wednesday, November 6th.