Loading Events
  • This event has passed.

RE//Woven

Montserrat Gallery

October 10, 2016 - December 17, 2016

Reception: October 12th, 5–7pm

Gallery Hours
M,T,W,F, 10am–5pm
Th, 10am–8pm
Sat., 12–5pm

RE//Woven is a group exhibition featuring the work of Liz Collins (Brooklyn, NY), Nathan Green (Brooklyn, NY), Cal Lane (Putnam Valley, NY), Maria Molteni (Boston, MA), Raquel Paiewonsky (Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic), and Stacey Piwinski (Boston, MA). Each of the artists on view incorporates the aesthetics and gestures of traditional weaving and pattern-making through the use of untraditional mediums such as dirt, cinder blocks, and paper pulp. RE//Woven is a clever re-imagination of weaving through a network of objects that intertwines the relationship between contemporary aesthetics and ancient gesture.

Textiles are a type of flexible material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibers constructed through knitting, crocheting, knotting, or weaving. Usually, cloth is made on a loom; A device that holds the warp (longitudinal) threads in place while filling threads are woven through them, resulting in an interlace called, “the weave.” This exhibition conceptualizes the gallery space  as an extension of the loom in that it frames, supports, and intertwines the visual languages of six artists on view.

Liz Collins’ new work “Midnight” (2016) is a two-toned, double sided woven fabric, cut in half. The vibrant, neon blue and black work is suspended from the ceiling at the center of the gallery, allowing visitors to walk around the piece. One side appears distressed and decayed, while the other reveals a tight, precise geometric zig-zag patterning. Nathan Green also explores geometry and line in his work, which explores the visual and sculptural qualities of painting. His hybrid works “weave” contemporary crafting techniques and abstract painting with low-grade construction methods. For RE//Woven Green paints two large-scale, quilted patterns  directly on the wall, then overlaying selections of his recent body of work on top, metaphorically stitching together both facets of his interdisciplinary practice.  Also working site-specifically, sculptor Cal Lane creates a floor drawing from her Dirt Works (2004-current) series. Made entirely of red dirt, Lane will sift the gritty and messy material through a lace tapestry, creating an ordered “dirt rug” that juxtaposes ornamentation and decorative pattern with “tough” blue-collar work. 

Across the gallery, Raquel Paiewonsky’s “Wall” (2016) features twenty-four hand sanded cinder blocks, stacked on top of one another to form a barrier or low tier wall. Select cinder block comprising the structure are covered in hand embroidered, colored fabric. The diverse bright patterns  warm the otherwise cold, industrial barricade dividing the room. Stacey Piwinski creates trompe l’oeil patterned fabric in her Objects of Labor series (2012-2014). the work reveals itself as an assemblage of faux-painted stitching “woven” together with real fabric on canvas. Piwinski says her every choice is crucial, forming a conversation that guides the painting process and weaves together a visual representation of the social exchange between herself and the subject. Molteni Molteni debuts her latest body of work inspired by Anni Alber’s studies of knots in RE//Woven.  The artist tangles tennis racket strings from various found rackets, creating a subtle abstraction that places the pieces in a contemporary, capitalist, pop-cultural context.