Interdisciplinary artist Duncan Clark Menzies explores what people cover up in ‘Catharsis’

Literally and artistically, Duncan Clark Menzies is the odd one out in his family.

Dark-haired and tan in a family of freckled redheads, Menzies seems to have also gotten all the creative genes himself.

His first entry in the art world came through music via “The Marriage of Figaro,” which a choir teacher introduced him to when he was in the sixth grade.

“I was like ‘Oh my gosh, this is amazing. This is what I want to do,’ ” he said. “It was like ‘I want to do this or McDonald’s.’ ”

In high school, he found theater while a student at Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy. Theater kept him busy for a while, and he performed on stages across the region until the pandemic put things on pause.

With time on his hands, Menzies began dabbling in visual arts. He’d made gifts for people when he was younger and created a few mixed-media/found object pieces from things he found at thrift stores and estate sales, but this time he was focusing on his project “The Bedsheet Chronicles.”

The project started about eight years ago when Menzies was living in Seattle and wanted to have deeper conversations with people and then make artwork using bedsheets given to him by conversation partners.

“Catharsis,” his third show focused on “The Bedsheet Chronicles,” runs through June 26 at the Terrain Gallery.

Menzies chatted with friends, family and anyone else who would have a conversation with him. He estimates he’s conducted about 30 interviews over the course of the project.

Menzies said though many interview subjects would start by asking him “How would you like me to answer?” or “What are you looking for?,” they got surprisingly vulnerable after he assured them he wanted to hear whatever was authentic and felt right to share, guided by the question “What do you cover?”

One woman shared about feeling the need to hide her power in front of a man lest she be seen as intimidating.

Actor friends talked about covering who they were to play a role. Bisexual friends talked about covering one aspect of themselves with their gay friends and another aspect with their straight friends.

Women talked about covering up their body because they were ashamed of how they look, while a church elder talked about covering other people and protecting them.

With each “Bedsheet Chronicles” show, Menzies feels like he’s exploring the question of “What do you cover?” on a deeper level.

The first show was a survey of answers he received from his interviews. The second show came after Menzies had spent two years living in a van while traveling the country and also working at a retreat center in Costa Rica.

Van life gave him a lot of freedom, but he didn’t realize how much he craved community and stability over adventure until he returned to Coeur d’Alene for his second “Bedsheet Chronicles” show, this one at Emerge, and saw the city with what he said was a bird’s eye view.

While on the road, Menzies had a lot of time to think and ask himself philosophical questions, which made their way into that second show.

“The thing I came to that was the most resonant for me is covering myself from the divine and connection to the divine, and how that plays out in my life,” he said.

For “Catharsis,” Menzies has connected the question of “What do you cover?” to cultural and physical terrains that cover how people view the world.

When someone begins talking about what they cover, Menzies said, they can start with something like how they interact with others and how that affects how they hide themselves.

Going beyond that, someone might talk about how they connect with something outside of themselves, like a creator, and things they may not realize they cover, like how being born in a particular country or being raised in a faith tradition affects how they see the world around them.

The show features lamps and illuminated wall fixtures, some with fabric covers, others with collage. “Catharsis” also features the short documentary film “A Sheet from Naked,” which Menzies created with videographer Jack Wade.

The film, a year and a half in the making, details Menzies’ work on “The Bedsheet Chronicles.” It will be played on a loop during exhibition in an area of the gallery cordoned off with curtains appropriately made from bedsheets.

After “Catharsis,” Menzies isn’t quite sure what the future holds for “The Bedsheet Chronicles.” He knows it might one day have an end date, but he’s aware that each time he presents this project, he uncovers more.

“This iteration of the project feels really special with the film, and I’m excited about the opportunities that it’ll open people up to,” he said. “I’m also really excited to engage with people that are curious about pieces or the project or the film, and I think that it’ll spur lots of really great conversations.”