The exhibition will continue through May 30th.

Erdrich (left) and Reiss (right) at the opening of “BINDING (the secret sayers).”

On Friday, May 2nd, a collaborative installation between two visiting artists opened at Butter Projects in Royal Oak. Brooklyn-based artist Loren Erdrich and Oakland-based artist Bunnie Reiss met five years ago at a Vermont Studio Center residency, where the two mixed-media artists quickly found common ground.

The opening night crowd at Butter Projects.

The two-woman show, “BINDING (the secret sayers)” featured both individual works by each artist and collaborative sculptural pieces that were created over the course of an action-packed intensive session in Erdrich’s Brooklyn studio. The entire body of work on display represents a conversation between the two artists, who consider themselves kindred spirits in both philosophy and creative practice.

Observers of the conversation between the two artists.

The eponymous “binding” is characterized thus: “Drawing lies at the foundation of Erdrich and Reiss’s process. It is this first mark, this first line that runs along the surface of the page, charged with their own stories, that binds them together.” This connection is represented in the central collaborative piece, a two-headed coyote that dominates the main gallery.

The two-headed coyote forms the nucleus of the installation.

The individual works bear a signature style, with Erdrich contributing figurative watercolors of female forms in morose palates and sculptures that employ disembodied hands. These play off Reiss’s highly detailed drawings, which collectively form a kind of alternative tarot deck of characters in eye-catching brand colors, as well as exquisitely painted gloves.

Erdrich and one of her sculptures.

Reiss and a pair of her gloves.

The whole show is quite immersive, a highly seamless product of two separate creative minds in very close alignment. A nice offering from Butter Projects, and a fun peek into the shared world of secret sayers.

Butter Projects: 814 W. 11 Mile, Royal Oak; www.butterprojects.info