Precious Things, a series by artist Amanda Dolan, opened at Ward-Nasse Gallery last night. Lest you think all art today reflects the everything-sucks economy, consider that most of her pieces feature bright pinks and blues, and that she paints portraits of happy-looking dogs, then be convinced otherwise.

But I did find “In Utero” (pictured) terrifying.

One prominent piece on display was a flower pot fashioned out of the detached legs of a mannequin that Dolan told me she found discarded on a street corner. A headline that read “You’re to blame,” which Dolan said she ripped from a “sleazy self-help article” in a women’s magazine, was cast into the mannequin’s leg.

Another piece, “When Doves Cry,” caught my attention.

Dolan’s art is on display at the gallery until the end of October.

Paint The Town Red has photos of the opening. (Updated later: More photos.)