Wildly divergent

ART

A new mixed-media art show at Bows & Arrows showcases two area artists: Liv Moe and Elisabeth Higgins-O’Connor. Get Well Soon comprises both two-dimensional and three-dimensional works that consist of primary colors and unusual forms that are at once whimsical and thought provoking.

Moe is executive director at Verge Center for the Arts, and her works for this exhibit include sculptural wall pieces incorporating hair and found objects. Higgins-O’Connor, a professor of drawing and ceramic sculpture at Sierra College, is perhaps best known for her quirky reconstructed animal forms which, with their expressive eyes and feral, off-kilter poses, feel as though they’ve stepped out of a slightly deranged Maurice Sendak book. The Bows exhibit will feature smaller wall works.

Either way, the effect remains childlike and scientifically precise. And no wonder: Higgins-O’Connor has said her work is inspired by such wildly divergent images as “the rampant growth of invasive species like kudzu and weeds, saccharine-ly sweet animal toys with rubber faces from the 1950s and ‘60s … and images from old wrestling magazines.”

Get Well Soon runs through Wednesday, October 31, at Bows & Arrows, with an artists’ reception from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday, October 5. 1816 19th Street, www.bowscollective.com.