“Fabrications: Stitched and Animated,” solo exhibition of new fabric works and experimental animations is on view in NYC, Sept. 30-Oct 25, 2025.
Ceres Gallery
547 W. 27th St. #201
NY, NY 10001
Hours: Tues-Sat 12-6pm
I will be present in the gallery during the opening week, as well as closing day.
Thursday, Oct. 2, 6-8pm (reception)
Saturday, Oct. 4, 3-5pm (reception)
Saturday, Oct. 25, 3-6 pm (closing)
“Fabrications: Stitched and Animated.” Kumao combines thread drawings and fabric cutouts on industrial felt to create minimalist images of conversations and relationships. Similar in form to a New Yorker cartoon, each piece distills the emotional and psychological tenor of an interaction down to a single key moment.
These textile and animated works are episodic, a collection of potent moments fabricated from memory, and stitched together as necessary parts of a greater whole. Reimagined using sewing, fabric cutouts, thread and wool, these tactile depictions are intentionally imperfect, missing details much like any recollection. In the current political climate, truth is often sidelined or distorted, and facts dismissed as fabrications. These works resist this erasure by highlighting personal storytelling as a necessary and powerful tool of preservation. By freezing moments of vulnerability and precariousness, the textile works focus on the unspoken power dynamics of workplace and domestic relationships.
The stop motion animations, “35 Days” and “LADIES.” are also composed from a series of discrete interactions and use humor and absurdity to recount lived experiences from the pandemic and mid-20th century office culture. In “35 Days,” neighborhood callers provide clues (some helpful and some not) in the search for a lost cat, ultimately weaving together and revealing a community of care during the most isolating period in modern history. “LADIES.” uses physical slapstick to depict and disarm the stereotypical roles and invisible gender politics that exist in traditional workplaces.
Support for this exhibition provided by The University of Michigan Office of the Vice President Research and the Arts Initiative.
