EXHIBITIONS
I'M READY TO LEAVE
Opening Reception May 30th 5-9PM. Show closes June 20th.
Artist Statement
Lindsay McCabe Pope / Pocket Studio Creative
Graphic Designer by trade, Lindsay Pope brings her sharp eye for branding, color, and narrative into a new realm with this collection of acrylic paintings. Known for infusing visual identities with illustration and personality, Pope now turns her focus inward, toward the tension between curated joy and private discomfort. Here, the party is both delightful and disorienting.
In I’m Ready to Leave Lindsay Pope stages a party you’re not sure you want to attend. At first glance, this party offers joy, decadence, and belonging. The room is filled with lavish cakes, extravagant dress, and opulent table settings. But the viewer is left circling the party's edge, both seduced and alienated.
This work wrestles with the performance of pleasure in spaces that demand it. What does it mean to desire delight while navigating a nervous system trained for retreat? Drawing from her own experiences with social anxiety, Pope reimagines the loaded dynamics of social gatherings. Delicious foods are left uneaten, beautiful clothing unworn. Her imagined feasts and costume closets become invitations to a fantasy, a quiet meditation on the labor of being present.
These artworks speak to the need to be seen and the instinct to disappear. In a world that rewards performance over presence, how do we confront the masks we wear to manage our own visibility?
With bold color and wry visual storytelling, Pope creates a safe space to explore the mess. She confronts the fear of being seen by embracing the desire to connect, and ultimately celebrating the awkward beauty of showing up anyway. This is not escapism; it’s survival.