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Erin Zerbe headshot

Marietta College’s Art Department is excited to present “Control Series: Discipline and Domination, A Photography and Video Exhibition by Erin Zerbe” in Gallery 310 from Aug. 30 through Sept. 26.

An artist reception is scheduled for 5:00-7:00 p.m., Friday, Sept. 20, on the third floor of the Hermann Fine Arts Center. It is free and open to the public.

Zerbe is an interdisciplinary artist living and working in Marietta, Ohio. She earned her BFA in Kinetic Imaging from Virginia Commonwealth University, received her MFA and Certificate of Post-Secondary Art Education from the Maryland Institute College of Art, and is the latest faculty member to join the Art Department as an Associate Professor of Art at Marietta College.

She has exhibited nationally and abroad, including solo exhibitions at the Elise Munro Gallery, ARTifact, Peoria Art Guild, School 33 Art Center, and FAB Gallery; in group shows at Beaver Hall Gallery, The Factory (Italy), Montpelier Arts Center, Art | Basel, and The Gallery NOVA; film festivals including International People's Choice Film Festival (Quito, Ecuador), Scene First Student Film Festival (Salt Lake City, Utah), and Open APPeture Short Film Festival (Boone, North Carolina).

Images in “Control Series: Discipline and Domination” represents the effects of various control garments on a woman’s body.

“Control garments are marketed to women to ‘reshape’ their bodies and aid them in weight loss,” Zerbe said. “By highlighting the effects of these harsh garments on the flesh, I’m hoping to shed light on the real result of body policing and control sold to us as a form of health and beauty. By showing the physical trauma these garments cause to the flesh, I’m hoping to draw connections to the deep and pervasive emotional traumas many women feel about their bodies. The stigma of size and fatness is so prominent in our culture that many women subject their bodies to this type of physical restraint every day in an effort to occupy less space.”  

During the opening reception, Raquel Ravaglioli, Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Music Therapy, will play the violin and be accompanied by Chris Bowmaster, Instructor of Clarinet, Music, Pep Band and Music recruiter. Ravaglioli’s violin experience includes performing with the Santa Monica Symphony, Topanga Symphony, Dream Orchestra, and recording at Capitol Records as a member of the Los Angeles Musicians Union.

Gallery 310 is open noon-4:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday, or by appointment at gallery310@marietta.edu. Gallery 310 observes all Marietta College holidays and breaks. All exhibitions and receptions are free and open to the public.