Full of Whimsy & Rage Opening Reception

Full Of Whimsy and Rage, showing May 1 – June 10, 2026 at PAF Gallery in Siler City, North Carolina features the abstract works of Ash Lorusso and Paget Marion Blythe. Their bold, bright acrylic and mixed media paintings emphasize both the power and the resilience of art making during this collectively tumultuous time. In a culture that rewards productivity, and emotional numbing, choosing to slow down and attune creatively becomes an act of rebellion. Through color, gesture, and layered marks, their paintings are a refusal to disappear. This show insists that creativity is not a luxury, but a vital tool for transformation and rebellion; one that allows rage to bloom into connection and strength.

“The work of the artist is to turn her rage into flowers.” – Audre Lorde

Ash’s work explores the stages of memory/identity loss, repetition, and desire paths. A desire path is an informal trail formed by repeated use; shaped by instinct rather than design. These lines are quiet evidence of choice, resistance, and the deeply human urge to move intuitively through time. Similarly, her paintings trace the accumulation of thought, feeling, and experience, carving paths forward in ways that oscillate between clarity and tumult, between safety and confusion.

Paget works in acrylic, mixed media and collage. She is particularly interested in using traditional iconography and artifacts from “women’s work” to question identity narratives. Imagining the silent stories behind textile remnants, discarded papers and found objects, her paintings allow these materials to gain new agency. Many of her recent works also play with the concept of excavation; painted and collaged layers are physically manipulated, torn and/or removed to allow for destructive revelations in the composition.

Full of Whimsy & Rage is funded in part by a grant received from the United Arts Council of Wake County and the opening reception will coincide with Siler City’s downtown third Friday music series on May 15.