[image: Ruby Trophy_lt_Banner 4.jpeg] Mercy! We are proud to have bagged a show by the frenetically busy and in-demand Tacoma artist, Oliver Doriss. Please join us for the opening of "Trophies" on Saturday, May 4 - gallery opens at noon; the artist will be on hand from 5-7pm. Show runs through June 30. In "Trophies", Doriss renders precious deer skulls in jewel-like glass, creating sculptures that are at once modern and as darkly beautiful as memento mori. These works mine subliminal territory where the artificial construct of human culture butts against the "raw unstoppable forces of nature...I feel as though there are glimpses of reality when the cracks form in my societal conditioning," Doriss said. The works in "Trophies" combine a fragile temporality with an almost papal sense of luxury that is wickedly attractive. Turn a skull over in your hand, and you can run your finger across the rows of tiny deer teeth Doriss has carved in glass. “I seek to make connections with both my aesthetic choices and subject matter, often towing the line of the dark and humorous," he said. Doriss is himself a 12-point buck in every sense of the word. He opened the seminal gallery, Fulcrum, on Tacoma's Hilltop in 2008, and has presented some of the city's most robust and provocative shows ever since. When he's not running his gallery, he teaches Venetian glassblowing locally and in Murano, Italy (no wonder he always has such great shoes). Please join MINKA in welcoming Oliver Doriss on May 4, 5-7pm (and beyond). Also opening May 4 is “Six Paintings”, abstract works by noted Tacoma artist and designer, John Vlahovich. Upstairs at Art Above Gallery, is an ongoing exhibit of paintings curated by Brian Ebersole. The show includes works new and old; some collected in the former mayor’s travels, some brushed by himself. MINKA is located at 821 Pacific Ave. Regular hours are Thursday through Sunday, 12-5, and by appointment. For more information, please contact verticalshout@gmail.com. (Featured: Ruby Deer Skull. Doriss describes this sculpture as, “Transparent ruby sheathed in silver leaf, a classic and especially blingy look. Inspired by Venetian sculptural sensibilities exploiting a similar use of precious metals and striking colors.” Approx. 8 in. wide.)