Apocalypse? How! writer Nancy Hightower on the Grotesque

Nancy Hightower

Nancy Hightower, whose written narrative ties together the work of the four artists (or the four horsemen) featured in the show, recently filled us in on the exhibition's theme: the Grotesque.

I first met Hightower when I enrolled in her writing class at the University of Colorado Boulder called "The Grotesque." I was excited to delve into the dark and the twisted, but at the same time, I was nervous to meet the professor. I started imagining the kind of person who would teach a class like this: She would have long fingernails, dark eyes, a deep voice, and speak iin a morbid way.

But Hightower is nothing like the person I'd pictured. She's bright-eyed, warm and seems to have way too much energy. Not surprisingly, Hightower lectures were far from boring, although I can't say I ever warmed up to that picture of the half-pig-half-human-obese-naked-creature-thing she posted on our class website.

And never got used to the concept of the Grotesque, either. Because, as Hightower says, the Grotesque (as if it's alive) works to throw you off balance.

Click down for Westword's Q&A with Hightower