Art in focus: "Magnolia Laurie: With a Tug and a Hold" ponders cycles of collapse and creation at VisArts Posted at 01:49 PM ET, 12/27/2012 Artist Magnolia Laurie is fascinated by decay, as well as its opposite. At VisArts, her exhibition of paintings and sculptural installation, "With a Tug and a Hold," includes several quasi-abstract scenes of a mysterious, post-apocalyptic world. Without exception, they're unpopulated. But evidence of people is everywhere, in the strange structures that she depicts. Some resemble survivalist shacks. Others, the remnants of buildings after a destructive tornado or fire. But amid the ruin are signs of hope. Stop by Jan. 6 from 1 to 2 p.m., when the artist will give a gallery talk about her work Read my review, and check out a gallery of images from the show in the gallery at the top of this post.