Collage is a form of expression that matches our material-laden culture so well that it's become rather commonplace. While much of what is done hovers dangerously close to scrapbook, occasionally an artist makes it his or her own to good advantage.

Such is the case with Port Matilda, Pennsylvania, artist Alyce Ritti, who in her exhibition, "Cutting Comments", at Studio Z Gallery on the South Side, soft peddles social commentary within works that inspire a chuckle and have the quality of hand work.

An example is the piece she's chosen for her announcement, "Sloth II", in which a plucked, roasted turkey, sporting a straw hat and human feet, lies in a hammock. Clocks, a sundial and a small, metal resting pig complete the lace and yarn framed composition. She's at her best with these small works, which address what Ritti calls "human folly". Art historical images that appear out of context also add to the fun. And, she can get ribald, as in "Pride I", now in the collection of the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Loretto, Pennsylvania, a copy of which is in the show.

The temptation of all of that consumer society raw material can lead to heavy-handed application and tends to make the "Now/Then" compositions too busy, whereas, paradoxically, the very largest works seem a bit spare.

But this is all a matter of fine tuning, and some of her experiments, such as "Goddess I" in a shadowbox, hit it just right.