Inga McCaslin Frick’s startling, seductive mixed-media works at Flatfile make you ask: is that a real object or an image of one? Her mix of actual objects with digital prints never completely blends the two visually, enhancing the sense of uncertainty. These six pieces and the three digital prints in the show have their roots in Frick’s upbringing as a Jehovah’s Witness, her subsequent rebellion, and an intense depression three years ago. Fired from a job teaching digital art in Florida, she moved into a friend’s basement in Washington, D.C. She feared her marriage was ending, and on Christmas Eve 2002 she was alone. Though painting was her first love, she hadn’t painted in eight years, teaching instead and creating video installations with Gillian Brown (who’s also showing at Flatfile). That night, Frick began to paint over her old works. “I systematically ruined them–it was like picking up a musical instrument after not having played for a long time. I stayed up all night, and at some point I did something right, and that made me so happy I was crying.”
