The weight we carry
Kledia Spiro's "Drawing in Air" at Kingston Gallery considers the burdens of youth, and of the flesh
What weight do you carry? We who have been around awhile are keenly aware of how our burdens stress our bodies. The physically vital middle schoolers and high schoolers in Kledia Spiro’s weightlifting classes may be less conscious of it. Spiro, an artist and weightlifter, asked her students what weight means to them. The answers included social, academic, and financial pressures. And – for teens and adults alike – there are always weights we bear that we may not speak of or even acknowledge to ourselves. Kledia used a bar path analysis app to trace the line of each student’s body as it hefted a barbell.
From that sprang “Drawing in Air,” Kledia’s show at Kingston Gallery. The centerpiece is a barbell, surrounded by her gestural paintings of those bar paths – each, a whole-body signature – and interactive sensory components that make each painting a dance partner with the viewer. This poetic exhibition reflects on the gap between what we say and what our bodies express. Here’s my Globe review.