Carol Wax’s masterful mezzotint engravings depict the ordinary as extraordinary. Using dramatic lighting effects, exaggerated perspectives, and a dose of wit, Wax transforms commonplace objects into astonishing icons, cleverly revealing the “the anima in the inanimate”.

Extraordinary Objects highlights Wax’s use of mezzotint’s idiosyncrasies to reinvent antiquated machinery and vintage wares into lively gadgets and anthropomorphic objects. In her words, the work “…speaks to an inner life perceived in inanimate objects.” Marrying the hardness of everyday items with the soft richness of mezzotint, Wax’s subjects take on a life of their own, often with cheeky titles further humanizing the cameras, fans, phones, and other objects appearing in her work.

In addition to her virtuoso work as a mezzotint artist, Wax is regarded as an authority on the history of the medium as well, publishing her groundbreaking book The Mezzotint: History and Technique in 1990. Now in its second edition, copies will be available for sale throughout the duration of the exhibition.

Venturing through several decades of the artist’s prints, Carol Wax: Extraordinary Objects will be on view in the Childs Gallery Print Department.