Marlo Pascual: Making Something Out of Something

Blurring the boundaries between photography and sculpture, the art of Marlo Pascual (b. 1972, Nashville; d. 2020, Philadelphia) transforms what is familiar into something uncanny, prompting deeper contemplation. Using anonymous pictures sourced from thrift stores and their online counterparts, Pascual used techniques of enlargement, fragmentation, and obfuscation to upend viewers’ expectations. While these alterations can be humorous, there is also an implied discomfort in the abrupt cropping of limbs, faces obscured by objects, or physical destruction of images by shattering, tearing, or folding.

Through her interventions, Pascual exaggerated and highlighted the artifice of these found images. Frequently encasing the enlarged images in thick Plexiglas and pairing them with common yet unexpected objects, Pascual gave them new life and a newly charged aesthetic function. By enlarging them well beyond their intended size, to a scale commensurate with furniture or sculpture, she asserted the physicality of the images, giving them volume and form.

Featuring 17 of Pascual’s works made between 2009 and 2014, this exhibition demonstrates the artist’s methods of recontextualizing her original source material. Through dramatic changes to scale, adding repurposed objects, and other transformations, Pascual created works that urge viewers to see everyday imagery from a new perspective.

When: July 24, 2026, through February 28, 2027.

Showtimes: Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Hours may change; visitors should check the museum’s visit-planning information for updates.

Venue: National Museum of Women in the Arts.

Location: MaryRoss Taylor Galleries, fourth floor.

Tickets: Price not available.

Exhibition content: The exhibition includes 17 works demonstrating Pascual’s use of dramatic changes in scale, repurposed objects, and other interventions to recontextualize everyday imagery.

Featured materials: Works in the exhibition include digital C-prints, Plexiglas, wood, acrylic, Sintra, and a lamp. The displayed works include pieces from 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, and 2014, including photographs mounted or encased in sculptural forms.

Accessibility: Scalable gallery labels are available for easier reading in the galleries or after a visit.

Note: The page is dated October 12, 2026, and displays a notice that the exhibition was closed that day.