{"id":1363,"date":"2025-10-09T00:56:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T00:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/studio.christinadarras.com\/?p=1363"},"modified":"2026-07-31T09:50:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T09:50:20","slug":"how-cute-is-cute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/studio.christinadarras.com\/?p=1363","title":{"rendered":"How Cute Is Cute?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"project-meta wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Off the Kerb, Collingwood<\/strong><br>9\u201323 October 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/studio.christinadarras.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/106fb72e00ad5155.jpg\" alt=\"How Cute Is Cute? exhibition at Off the Kerb, 2025\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>How Cute Is Cute?<\/em>, Off the Kerb, 2025.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>How Cute Is Cute?<\/em> brought together Christina Darras, Leanne Bock, Rebecca Marshall and Stephanie Hicks to explore cuteness as a surprisingly complex idea. More than a visual style, cuteness can suggest innocence, comfort and safety, while also making products, images and information feel more approachable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The exhibition asked why adults are drawn back to memories and sensations of childhood, and how cuteness can operate as both reassurance and disguise. Across collage, painting, sculpture and drawing, the artists approached the subject with humour, tenderness and unease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Four approaches to cuteness<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Leanne Bock\u2019s vivid, witty collages treated cuteness as a secret weapon that can bring tenderness into a hardened world. Rebecca Marshall\u2019s small-scale, high-intensity paintings explored a candy-coated sensory aesthetic that reaches beyond surface charm. Stephanie Hicks\u2019s miniature assemblages and sculptures invited curiosity and an open-hearted reconsideration of beauty and desire. Christina Darras used cuteness as a lens through which life can appear comfortable and safe\u2014then reversed that expectation in white-on-black drawings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The exhibition was curated by Christina Darras and presented in the Back Gallery at Off the Kerb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/offthekerb.com.au\/Show268.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">View the exhibition page at Off the Kerb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Off the Kerb, Collingwood9\u201323 October 2025 How Cute Is Cute? brought together Christina Darras, Leanne Bock, Rebecca Marshall and Stephanie Hicks to explore cuteness as a surprisingly complex idea. More than a visual style, cuteness can suggest innocence, comfort and safety, while also making products, images and information feel more approachable. The exhibition asked why [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1364,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,76,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artwork","category-curatorials","category-projects"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/studio.christinadarras.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/studio.christinadarras.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/studio.christinadarras.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studio.christinadarras.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studio.christinadarras.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1363"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/studio.christinadarras.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1365,"href":"https:\/\/studio.christinadarras.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1363\/revisions\/1365"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studio.christinadarras.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/studio.christinadarras.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studio.christinadarras.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studio.christinadarras.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}