Stephanie Rond: Eye Candy

There’s only one Stephanie Rond, and she wants to make you feel something. She’s as strong as she is kind, cool as she is charming, and she takes humor very seriously. So it makes complete poetic sense that this Columbus born-and-bred artist layers each of her creations with pure aesthetic beauty and wry social commentary. On Saturday, she’ll launch her latest show, Eye Candy, at Image Optical in the Short North. It’ll feature more than 30 multi-sized pieces of spray paint on canvas.

Stephanie uses spray paint, which she interprets as a traditionally male-dominated medium, to skew gender roles through ardent female themes and artistic traditions. Promoting and destigmatizing feminism is something that she has explored for the past 16 years. “The work that I created for this show is pretty and humorous,” she said. “But if you look beneath all of that, you’ll find intellectual satire. The smaller works are subtle commentaries on words that objectify, which is why I camouflaged those words into the background.”

The opening reception for Eye Candy will take place this Saturday evening from 6:00 to 10:00. Wine and refreshments will be served, and local deejay CMC will make his debut performance. The exhibit will be on display through June 30 and its pieces range in price from $35 to $375.“My art tends to produce a wide range of emotional responses,” Stephanie said. “I honestly don’t care what emotions they evoke, as long as they evoke something. I would much rather someone look at my work and hate it than be complacent.”

Girls kick so much ass.