Riverland Community College

The Ophelia Project by Susan Hensel will open from August 25 to September 25, 2014. A performance and artist talk will be held on September 3 at 1:30pm. The performance and talk are free and open to the public. The James Wegner Gallery is open Monday through Friday from 8am-4pm and is located on the East campus of Riverland Community College.

The Ophelia Project is an interactive installation and performance piece featuring mixed media drawings, sound, and video, as well as various objects that viewers may interact with. The performance on September 3 will feature the artist, along with Ellie Dyke, a student from Riverland Community College, silently interacting with elements of the exhibition and performing what is depicted within the drawings.

Hensel describes the project as “a story about female power and shame that is embedded in a male-dominated culture. It is about the compromises and conformities we commit in order to advance our lives, to stay alive, and to do what we need to do as women. This project seeks to discover female authenticity.”

Minneapolis-based artist Susan Hensel has shown her artwork extensively both in Minnesota and nationwide for the past 25 years. From 2004 – 2013 her main focus was running and curating exhibitions for The Susan Hensel Gallery on Cedar Avenue in south Minneapolis. This exhibition is Hensel’s first solo show since her return to a full time studio practice, and is the first time The Ophelia Project is being presented in its entirety.