Wichita Art Museum exhibition might have visitors seeing double
Amy and Beth Dowell, identical twin sisters from Rose Hill, have doubled down in embracing and exploring their twinship in a new exhibition opening Friday, Nov. 8, in a Wichita Art Museum gallery that features works by local artists.
The Dowells, who work together under the moniker Artists A Plus B, created about a dozen diptychs for the exhibition “Artists A Plus B: Twinverse” that will remain on display through March 23 in WAM’s Regional Creatives Gallery.
As part of the exhibition’s opening night activities Nov. 8, the Dowells will give an artists talk at 6:30 p.m. The gallery will open at 5 p.m. Admission is free, with a cash bar available.
The Dowells’ diptychs — which refers to artwork consisting of two panels or pieces that together create a singular piece of art — reflect another creative coupling, that of the written word and visual art.
Inspired by the structure of the sonnet, one of the most famous forms of poetry, the Dowells have arranged the colors, shapes, symbols and patterns in their diptychs based on the 14-line poem. The traditional sonnet generally consists of three four-line stanzas followed by a couplet, with 10 syllables per line. The lines are linked by a particular rhyming scheme.
The panels are displayed with Amy’s work on the left, and Beth’s work on the right. The works reflect comparisons and contrasts, as well as simplicity and complexity.
The diptychs are made of acrylic, thread and Tyvek, a brand of synthetic fibers.
The sisters’ twin identity has influenced their art over the past two decades. The pair decided to pursue Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in studio arts during their junior year at Washburn University and later earned MFA degrees from Purdue University.
“It seems like within the museum world, maybe twinness isn’t as visible or told from the experience of twins,” Beth Dowell said.
While at Purdue University, they heard about the annual two-day Twins Days Festival held in Twinsburg, Ohio. The festival has drawn record numbers of twins and other multiple sets of siblings since it started in 1976 as part of the town’s celebration of the U.S. bicentennial.
“Since we were starting to delve into twin identities and the narratives that surround twin identity, we thought we need to go,” Beth Dowell said. “They encouraged the twins to don identical outfits; we hadn’t dressed the same in decades — since we were in our childhood.”
At the festival, they created another body of artwork by photographing 70 pairs of twins wearing outfits with stripes.
The twins were among the first group of artists invited to participate in Facebook’s artist-in-residence program at its Menlo Park, California, campus, which started in 2012.
In the summer of 2022 — on July 16 to be precise, they said — they discovered that the sonnet could serve as a foundational concept for their artwork.
“It was an amazing moment,” Amy said. “It’s like we instantly knew.”
“It was a hair-raising, electrifying moment of recognition,” Beth added.
Earlier this year, the pair were selected to participate in the eight-week Artists INC training program that helps artists learn business skills and work with peers. The program is offered in communities in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas through the Mid-America Arts Alliance.
WAM has partnered with the Wichita-based nonprofit Harvester Arts to showcase local artists in the Regional Creatives Exhibition Series.
‘Artists A Plus B: Twinverse’ exhibition
What: a new exhibition by twins Amy and Beth Dowell in a Wichita Art Museum gallery dedicated to exhibiting works by local artists.
Where: Regional Creatives Gallery, Wichita Art Museum, 1400 W. Museum Blvd.
When: Friday, Nov. 8-Sunday, March 23; the exhibition opens at 5 p.m. Nov. 8 with an artists talk at 6:30 p.m. WAM hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesdays-Sundays with extended hours until 9 p.m. Fridays; closed major holidays.
Admission: Free
More info: 316-268-4921, wam.org
