Mount Horeb’s downtown Driftless Historium hosts “Skog Folk (Forest People)” by rural Mount Horeb artist Shoshanah Lee Marohn. This exhibit, officially debuting Friday, September 9, 2022, features a brooding series of acrylic paintings depicting ancient, dark forests and retreating figures.

“I don’t know where the people are going because I don’t know where I’m going.” The shadowy pieces, she explains, “don’t have much to do with reality, but everything to do with my emotional landscape.” 

Marohn began the enigmatic series during 2020, isolated with her family as the pandemic unfolded around them. Her art, formerly humorous, took on a darker and more serious tone, as she channeled her sadness and anxiety into the creative process: “Painting was my solace; a sort of trance I go into…I just put it down on the canvas, When it’s at its best, I’m barely there.” 

Marohn is a sustainable agriculture entrepreneur and sheep farmer, with an artistic bent that has previously translated into such eclectic mediums as coloring book projects (including “The Trolls of Mount Horeb,” an endeavor benefitting the Driftless Historium) and felted wool sculptures. 

Meet Shoshanah at an artist reception in the Historium’s Community Gallery on Friday, October 7 between 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. Refreshments will be served, and select works will be available for sale.  

“Skog Folk” is free  and accessible during the museum’s open hours through Tuesday, October 11. You can also find more of Marohn’s work at Isaac’s Antiques (132 E Main St, Mt Horeb). 

For more informationn, call the Driftless Historium at 608-437-6486 or email mthorebahs@gmail.com. 

Written by Shoshanah Marohn

Shoshanah Lee Marohn is sometimes using the nickname/ pen name Shana Lee, because it is much less complicated, and easier to spell.

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