Tender Identity ‘The softness, the underbelly, the squishiness, the sadness’

By CICADA HILL

Cocurated by Carolina Alamilla and Britny Wainwright, “Underbelly” is an art exhibition consisting of six women artists’ work who focus on the edges of softness within identity. The exhibition was on display in the Jodee Harris Gallery at the Seton Hill Arts Center from Oct. 8 – Nov. 7, 2025.

Alamilla, assistant professor of studio art at Washington and Jefferson College, is driven artistically by color, pattern, and playfulness. Wainwright, the director of foundations studies at Ohio State University as visiting assistant professor, is driven by ceramics, fiber, and mixed materials to abstract and draw meaning from domestic objects.

Alamilla and Wainwright have joined forces in the past, but “Underbelly” brought new things to the table. “We had worked together on a collaborative art show that was our work before, so this is kind of the next iteration of us working together,” Wainwright said.

“We’ve had shows together, but this was our first territorial project together,” Alamilla said. “One thing that we have realized about each other is we’re very like-minded in how we view art and the art that we really enjoy.”

“We started with the idea of softness,” said Wainwright. “As we started collecting our thoughts about it [‘Underbelly’] and artists and considering what we really wanted to say with the exhibition, our idea changed a little bit.

“It became more about tenderness and vulnerability, and the artists we selected have been fantastic. I chose three, Carolina chose three,” Wainwright said. 

The selection process for the artists was tied to emotion. “They were all women artists, and then a lot of them have this underneath theme of wrestling with something or going through something, and there’s this heavier emotion underneath the softness,” Alamilla said. “And a lot of these artists are questioning things, whether identity or going through a change, like motherhood, and there is something there to say the result was this really interesting art object, but it’s really in the underbelly that this work has been made.” 

Wainwright said, “I feel like the artists [displayed in ‘Underbelly’] are making work from these moments filled with emotion. [It] feels kind of quiet, but insistent at the same time, and I think Carolina and I were both attracted to this work because we know how vulnerable art making is, and it’s really quite brave to make work from a space that’s about the softness, the underbelly, the squishiness, the sadness.”

“Underbelly” reflects upon experiences within both Alamilla and Wainwright’s lives, as well.

“I moved here during the pandemic, and I thought, oh man, this is tough. I was just by myself, and I thought, what do I have?” Alamilla said. “Well, I have my creativity to keep me company.

“It was truly, in that kind of solitude and figuring out a new city, thinking about, what do I hope for? What am I dreaming of?” Alamilla said. “All of those things led to my exhibit space, which I think was a huge venture for me because I was combining a lot of ceramics and soft sculpture, which has influenced how I view art now. If we look at ‘Underbelly,’ there’s a lot of soft sculpture.” 

“My own experiences, my life experiences, relate to what the artists have gone through,” Wainwright said. “In my own sculptural practice, I pull from domestic objects because there are things that kind of float in my periphery.”

Wainwright said, “There are things that I’m familiar with, and sometimes when you make really specific work, it becomes more universal. … I also pull from domestic space, because I do make work about feminism, and, let’s say, the gendered history of the art gallery and how it was exclusionary to women for so long.

 “I would argue it still is, so I’m critiquing the art space by bringing things that are inspired from home into the white space, meaning the white gallery walls,” said Wainwright. 

Alamilla’s research examines non-traditional gallery spaces, and how art within a casual context can create a deeper connection with the viewer, but “Underbelly” seems to step away from this. “So funny enough, this is probably the most traditional way of exhibited work,” Alamilla said. “I’m like, wow, I have a lot of white walls here.” Alamilla continued, “The space influences how you place the artwork.” 

Having students within a college setting exposed to artwork like the “Underbelly” exhibition at Seton Hill is a driving force toward community and emotional awareness. “I think there’s something special about galleries that are in art buildings on campuses,” Wainwright said. “It’s a different audience as opposed to if we were in a gallery downtown, right? Like in Pittsburgh or something, that would be different. I really enjoy bringing works to academic communities so that it can enrich the educational experience.”

“I think about process being personal, and I think about how we kind-of move through this life, and we sometimes don’t know what the end result will be in the sense of maybe like a difficult season, or we’re just going through, you know, any emotion up and down, and I’m like, well, this could be the catalyst to great work,” said Alamilla. 

Wainwright said, “There’s a fine line when you’re an artist in curating or organizing an exhibition of other people’s work, of what is the thing that I’m doing creatively and what makes the work speak the closest to the artist’s intention.”

 “I think, as an artist, it’s nurturing to get into the minds of other artists,” Wainwright said. “We were delighted to bring it [‘Underbelly’] to Seton Hill.”