Words to Live By

Patricia Autenrieth / Paige Bradley / Andrew Demirjian / Kristina Estell / Naomi Grossman / Tilde Grynnerup / Yukio Ito / Tom Gehrig

In this section, the interplay of words and images are full of hope, joy, and optimism. These words are incantations whispered, chanted, and longed for. They are deepest thoughts and yearnings made visible and tangible, and put into action. Patricia Autenrieth’s quilt emblazoned with the stitched word ‘MAMA’ spanning its entirety is an ode to motherhood. Historical motifs of femininity and domesticity—a high heeled shoe, a spatula, an iron, the seal of Good Housekeeping, a trio of ducks—are stitched throughout the fabric in the thinnest white thread, almost imperceptible, much like the often invisible labor of parenthood. Andrew Demirjian’s piece is another kind of patchwork. An image of an imaginary flag serves as the backdrop for a musical composition that remixes the final notes and lyrics from national anthems, with the goal ‘to disentangle one’s connection to a nation and notions of fixed borders.’ Tilde Grynnerup’s textile also resembles a flag, though here are simply the words ‘here we all are under the same sun.’

In Yukio Ito’s cosmic print, vibrant, luminous ribbons swirl to form the abstracted word ‘oasis,’ and Tom Gehrig also invokes the sky with depictions of constellations, where mythology was literally written in the stars. Paige Bradley’s sculpture of a supine female, arm outstretched to cradle an orb is lit from within, illuminating the word ‘breathe’ etched on her breast. Naomi Grossman’s sculptures are made from wires shaped into female figures, bound together literally and figuratively by the familiar promises of wedding vows. Kristina Estell uses high-visibility neon fabric cut to form the German word Sympatisch, meaning friendly and agreeable, is suspended from the ceiling like a visual exclamation mark.