The Darkness

The Darkness

OCTOBER 6th – DECEMBER 12th, 2025

The Darkness is an exhibition of recent works by Wake Forest studio art faculty Rudy Shepherd and Molly Kaderka. This two-person exhibition brings together drawing, painting, sculpture, and performance, offering a dialogue between two distinct yet complementary artistic practices.

Rudy Shepherd’s work features a series of watercolor drawings created over the past 17 years, reflecting on world events, cultural figures, and social issues. Accompanied by ceramic and plaster sculptures, his practice explores both the harsh realities of the world and the possibility of healing. Shepherd’s live performance, the Induction Ceremony, activates his sculptures as instruments of collective reflection and emotional release.

Molly Kaderka’s installation combines large-scale marbled and painted works that explore the celestial and terrestrial realms. Her paintings, framed by tactile printed surfaces and incorporating intricate hand-tapped stars, invite viewers to contemplate the sublime and the interconnectedness of the natural world. Kaderka’s work addresses themes of beauty, meaning, and extinction, encouraging reflection on humanity’s place within a larger cosmos.

Together, this exhibition engages viewers in profound explorations of the world around us, from global events and cultural memory to the cosmic and ecological, offering moments of reflection, connection, and transformation.