Thread

March 2018

Clamp Light Gallery

A dynamic exhibition centered on artists using needle and thread in contemporary techniques, narratives, and conceptual practices. The featured artists include: Bianca Alvarez, Linda Arredondo, Sara Barnes, Sarah Castillo, Martha Elena Flores, Sarah Fox, Abby Hinojosa, Sol Kesseler, Justin Korver, Michael Martinez, Nicole Tovar and Jose Villalobos.

Bianca Alvarez explores notions of cultural identity, particularly within the theoretical framework of the third space as a first-generation Mexican-American. She replaces the canvas with cornhusks to stitch abstraction and text-based works that emphasize process. Linda Arredondo uses the needle and thread in an approach she calls “slow drawing” to explore the phenomenon of selfies and specifically the Korean genre captured on websites such as Ulzzang. Sara Barnes is an artist based in Baltimore and the embroider of the 2017 album cover for Iron and Wine’s Beast Epic. Barnes delves into issues of consumerism and femininity while creating a painterly quality with thread. Her work underlines ideas of hiding ourselves behind the material things we feel define us. Sarah Castillo is a text-based and figurative embroider. Deconstructing articles of clothing, she expresses ideas of letting go. Martha Elena Flores is an artist based out of Fort Worth, she investigates semiotics by using Microsoft’s Winding 3 font in energetic and cheerfully-chaotic compositions. Sarah Fox thrusts her signature-style composite figures, a staple of her oeuvre, into new phantasmagorical heights with her latest exploration of fiber and stitches. Abby Hinojosa’s work explores memory through embroidery. She uses song lyrics, clothing documentation and celebratory elements as a way to express the sweetness, sadness, and nostalgia that she associates with her everyday life. Based in Buenos Aires, Sol Kesseler infuses new media including sound into her embroidery practice, while incorporating an incredible use of negative space and built textures. Justin Korver alters found objects to propose a dialogue in contemporary masculinity, the utilitarian and the decorative, and contrasts the machine-made with handstitched embroidery. Michael Martinez employs an umber-colored chest binder as a canvas for embroidered poetry honoring Afro-Latino Transgender men. Nicole Tovar harnesses humor to explore ideas of the female body, beauty, and cultural acceptance. Jose Villalobos integrates embroidery with performance art to express conflicts with traditional masculinity by using the idea of the “working man’s hands.”