In the good company of Daishin Stephenson and Vince Larue, I headed downtown for First Friday. We started at Willo North, where Daishin has four photos hanging in the boutique. It always hosts the most essential shows in town, thanks to the brilliant eyes and mind of its curator, Robrt Pela.

The new show is of work by Carolyn Lavender and Christy Puetz. I had never heard of either of them before, but I was captivated by Puetz’s animal sculptures; their beads and sequins create a startlin...