I was about 10 years old when Marilyn Monroe was captured on film, her voluptuous, fleshy pillow of breasts rising and falling with a breathy rendition of “Happy Birthday” to our president. Not long after, an improbably skinny “Twiggy” stared out at teen-aged girls from the pages of fashion magazines. Is it any wonder then that the souls of (American) women are conflicted by competing ideals of womanly beauty?! This problematic terrain of sexuality and insidiously superficial and varying norms of beauty have made the form of the corset a potent metaphor for artist, Julie McLaughlin. Predatory and delicately feminine, tissue-thin and strong as steel, McLaughlin’s welded, hand-made paper sculptures plumb the symbolic and visual richness of the curves of her subject. McLaughlin’s latest sculptures are featured in the upcoming Metro Spring Gallery Tour from 5-8 p.m. on Friday, April 3rd. She plans on being here too, so come visit!