Welcome to the Digital Portion of 2021 Cincinnati Fringe Festival’s Digital Fringe!
Below you will see exhibits from a variety of talented artists. Some of these exhibits are just digital, and others can also be found in person at Fringe Headquarters, Know Theatre of Cincinnati.
Visual Fringe sponsored by: Cincinnati Creative.
Visual Fringe curated by: Kayla Williams.
Hand Men and the Lumps
By Steven Doucette
Steven Doucette (aka UrsaElektra) is a queer, Boston-based artist whose work concerns odd things. He suffers from an existential streak and surrealist tendencies, and these things often affect his artistic projects. The work is routinely concept/image driven: at this time, the Hand Men and the Lumps hold his attention and fascination most consistently. Steven also works as a props artisan, and is an amateur puppeteer, wood carver, and drag performer (as Stella Elektra).
You can see more of his work and keep up with him in the following places:
sjdcraftanddesign.com
tumblr.com/ursaelektra
twitter.com/ursaelektra
instagram.com/ursaelektra
Faux Food Creations
by Sara Kenney
Sara Kenney is a Boston-based visual artist, property master, and theatre practitioner invested in crafting faux food creations for the stage, screen, and every day “consumption.” A prop stylist at heart, Sara is primarily interested in the “souls” of objects, asking what impressions they leave on us and how we can stir the senses when we arrange them in stylized, dramatic, and juxtaposed fashions. She has worked regionally in the Boston area at several companies and organizations as a props master and designer, including The Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, The Brandeis Department of Theater Arts, Babson College, and The Family Performing Arts Center, where her original creations have been seen onstage. Additionally, she’s contributed to various Boston-area films and independent projects, including the stop-motion feature Mary’s Dark Christmas and Showtime’s My Psychedelic Love Story, where she served as an art department assistant and properties buyer.
saraandersonkenney.com
Instagram: @sak319.
The Emotional Force of Race
Joan Ferrante and India Sada (curators).
Artistic works by Jennifer Denham, Jessica Holtman, Tabitha Kelly, Lisa Link, Kevin Muente, Sherman Parnell, Gabrielle Siekman, and Carly Strohmaier.
The idea of “race” generates intense emotions. These emotions can be triggered by an image showing people of different racial appearances, a social media post where race is mentioned, an anticipated interaction with someone of another race, or when entering spaces populated by people defined as a certain race. This art show offers opportunities to interact with visual art that explores the historic roots, range and diversity of these emotions.
The Mourning the Creation of Racial Categories (MCRC) Project partners with artists to tell the stories of how people in the U. S. were divided into a handful of unequally-valued racial categories. MCRC artists examine moments when racial categories overwhelm identities and relationships. Engaging with race through the arts allows us to explore ways emotions (even if suppressed) add weight to interactions and relationships. The work of healing requires we acknowledge such emotions and reconcile with them.
TheMCRCProject.org
Donate Here.
RELEASE
by Sarah Rudker
Release is a collection made 100% from scratch, start to finish. It was made last year, my senior year of college, meant to be my capstone and displayed in an annual runway that was canceled due to covid-19. This here now is a few of the photos that come out with the final product. Release is inspired by inner struggle. You are your biggest degradation. I have torn myself apart for my own standards, and the process of this creation was meant to release myself from myself. All pieces have also been hand painted with a motif.

These paintings are pieces of my life, captured. A farm down the street from my family house, and the view from my very first apartment.
For more pictures and content, see my instagram: @aesthete_designer
Judge A Comic Book By Its Cover
MeSseD Comics cover art
by Dylan Speeg
Experience the artwork of MeSseD comics without the accoutrements of the publication branding. Main illustrator Dylan Speeg’s cover artwork has been featured for over five years in the indie comic book. This exhibit will highlight the art and process behind creating a MeSseD comic book cover.
Contact:
MeSseDComics@gmail.com
www.MeSseDcomics.com
twitter: @MeSseDcomics
insta: @MeSseDcomics
Discover:
Did you know that your typical comic book cover tries to accomplish three things?
The cover of a comic book needs to grab the reader, stick out in a sea of other comics and tell an interesting story. These objectives need to be accomplished in one image.
Create:
The art of the comic book covers isn’t just for illustrators. Think about your favorite stories, life moments or even sports highlights. What would you feature on the comic book cover of your favorite stories? Sketch it out with pencils, crayons, whatever you have around you. Use even stick figures if you have to. Share them with us at @messedcomics or #messedcomics
Meet the Artist:
Dylan Speeg (MeSseD illustrator) was born in Cincinnati in 1971 in which he has lived his entire life. He attended The Art Academy of Cincinnati in the early 90s and has worked as a portrait painter and illustrator ever since. He is also a musician in the band Heavy Hinges. His major influences are lurid pulp novel covers and Robert Williams, R. Crumb and other comic book artists. His spray paint stenciled illustrations for The CityBeat “Best Of Cincinnati” issue received the Best Illustrated Series Award from the Cleveland Press Club. He likes to use his home town Cincinnati and the people he knows as subject matter. He works nights as a bartender and performs standup comedy on occasion.
Artists Presenting in Person Work
Find their work at Know Theater Headquarters.