On Thursday evening, the Newton Cultural Alliance at the Allen Center hosted a talk with Kathryn Geismar, an artist and psychologist whose work is currently exhibited in the Allen Center’s main gallery in “Attachment.”
“When I saw Kathryn’s drawings at a St. Botolph Club show about two years ago, I was just captivated by their accuracy,” said Peter Vanderwarker, member of Newton Cultural Alliance’s board of directors.
The Newton Cultural Alliance is presenting a collection of exhibitions titled “Women Seeing Women” this spring. Geismar is the third of four female artists whose work is displayed in the collection.
Geismar’s artwork depicts the gender transition of her child, Sam, into a woman and their relationship with each other.
“We all find ourselves on lots of different kinds of spectrums, and we might call things certain names, but it’s always at the exclusion of some complexity,” Geismar said.
“Attachment” started with paintings of Sam at 16, who was going through a difficult and tumultuous time while trying to forge a strong sense of self, according to Geismar.
“I had to let go of everything I thought I knew about Sam and let Sam emerge,” Geismar said.
From Sam’s goth and frustrated period at 16 to their shift to a more feminine identity at 20, Geismar explained that she sought to capture the transformation as well as her understanding of her child through a canvas.
The pieces utilize translucent layers of Dura-Lar, graphite, newsprint, inks, and paint.
“I started in oil thinking about change-makers and tradition-benders and using traditional materials,” said Geismar. “[However], I decided to use nontraditional materials that felt more expressive of what Sam was doing.”
From sketching on long rolls of drafting film and discovering different parts of Sam every time she drew, Geismar experimented with aligning the art pieces on top of each other to get a more nuanced view of Sam.
“I began to use grommets as a way to hold the disparate pieces together so that they were attached, but they could float free,” said Geismar.
Geismar explained that the showcase title refers to Sam’s changing identity and Geismar’s understanding and memories of Sam.
“That’s where the title of this show, ‘Attachment,’ comes from—that it is an attachment, but it has to be a loose attachment,” Geismar said. “It has to have room to move.”
Geismar’s reflections on being a mother are seen in her artwork. Some works, including Cerberus and Echolalia, portray Geismar in the background underneath the layered translucent drafting film while Sam is in the front wearing a dress.
“I feel like I’m sort of hovering in the background, wanting to protect Sam, who, at this point, is using she/her pronouns, and it feels like a very vulnerable place to be in this world,” Geismar said.
Attendees were wowed by Geismar’s message, as well as her vulnerability.
“The transgender topic is new, fresh, and coming up in our world,” said Adrienne Hartzell Knudsen, the executive director of the Allen Center. “Many people haven’t been comfortable with it.”
Knudsen emphasized how impressed she was with Geismar.
“This beautiful artist is open and willing to share in such a generous way that I think it’s extraordinary,” said Knudsen.
Laura “Marcy” Crary, Vice President of the Newton Cultural Alliance Board of Directors, lauded Geismar’s decision to use her talented artistry to share her family’s story.
“She could have given this talk without art, but the fact that it was with art and imagery—it opens your senses in all sorts of ways,” said Crary.
Newton resident Tim Hall was impressed with how Geismar’s artistry could effectively draw on her experiences in motherhood.
“To listen to a mother talk about a child who’s finding their place in the world, combined with seeing the art, was personal,” said Hall. “Then to realize she’s a mother talking about her own experiences, it’s impressive to see how it all fits together.”
Geismar’s art in “Attachment” has been exhibited at the Bromfield Gallery in Boston, the Ishibashi Gallery in Middlesex, and the Concord Center for Visual Art in Concord, Mass. Her artwork will remain at the Allen Center until April 15.
Geismar’s next solo exhibition is titled “Becoming” and is set to be shown at the Bromfield Gallery in October 2025.
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