GRIFFIN GALLERY

When Karen Davis was small, her younger sister, Cheryl, had a set of four mechanical dolls she called the McCann Family. After Cheryl died a few years ago, Davis inherited the dolls and made them the subject of a series of photographs.

The McCann Family is featured in the Griffin Gallery of the Griffin Museum September 11 through November 2.

The photographs are part of a visual memoir by Davis that is a work in progress. The mechanical dolls, she says, were "a thinly disguised version of the Davis family. There was a boy doll, girl doll, man and woman doll." The Davis family had a mother and father and two girls, so Cheryl decided she was the boy doll, Tom McCann. Karen Davis was the girl doll, Mary Ann McCann.

When Cheryl, who was born with spina bifida, died, the McCann Family and all their possessions went to Davis. "It has taken most of my lifetime to appreciate the courage and imagination of my sister," Davis says. "Placing the McCanns on stage - directing their actions, brings me back to our childhood and to memories of an extraordinary woman."

"The McCann Family is a poignant visual tribute to the Davis family," says Paula Tognarelli executive director of the Griffin Museum of Photography. "Karen Davis spins her familial tale through the poetic capacity of her photographs. Her images move and charm the viewer all at the same time."

Davis, of Cambridge, MA, is a photographer, book artist, and educator. Her work is featured at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA); Houghton Rare Books Library, Harvard University; Boston Drawing Project at Bernard Toale Gallery; and in corporate and private collections. Her work can be seen on her website, www.YesThatKarenDavis.com.

Davis teaches photo-based and word-image courses for Lesley Seminars at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA. She is also a principal in artistmarketing.biz, which specializes in websites and other marketing services for artists.

An opening reception with the artist is Sept. 11, 7-8:30 p.m. It is open to all. The reception is preceded by a members-only talk with Davis at 6:15 p.m. Please RSVP by September 4.