THROUGH THE EYE OF THE NEEDLE

January 21 - April 22, 2023


I was extremely thrilled to receive the visitors choice award for the exhibition!


"Are you from Pumbedita where they push an elephant through the eye of a needle?"

An aphorism for convoluted reasoning


Cultural Diversity Embedded In The Warp & Woof of the Artists’ Works

Sewing, weaving, braiding, knotting… In this exhibition the enormity and disparateness of culture is integrated into the warp and woof of the artists diverse creations.


Using stitchery, macramé, weaving, integrating shards of pottery, found objects and recyclables, bottle caps and shells of the beach into complex tapestries, the artists selected for ‘Through the Eye of the Needle’ draw on materials embedded with touch and memory. They are meticulously crafted, designed to spark shared identity and common attachments. Mike Seri’s necktie tower bespeaks the decorative elements that reflect on days spent at the office, their doffing at the end of the day a release from the humdrum of the workday, while Patricia Miranda’s community gathered lace appliques and drapes are a monument to the detailed handworks of past and present, the materials that could embellish a fine silk garment or drape the beds of a struggling underclassman. Pick your favorite, for there is an array to draw on that tickles the imagination and levels the breach between upper, middle, and struggling economic classes.

In addressing the use of hand crafting to reflect on cultural diversity, regional craft and environmental issues, we look to a history spanning millennia, from the feather collages and paintings of Peru to the contemporary works of Ozioma Onuzulike, to the computer detritus integrated by Moffet Takadiwa in his keyboard beading, to the constructs of Leonardo Drew or Liza Lew. Shells embedded into weavings, rubies and gems into medieval tapestry, hair for embroidery, recycled wool for warmth. There is a world to explore, a language to decode.

35 pieces selected from some 400 submissions


Inez Andrucyk | Jan Baracz | Jill Bell | Anita Bracalente | Jodi Colella | Ruby Chisthti | Jaynie Crimmins | Adrienne Cullom | Sandi Daroza | Natasha Das | Sherry Davis | Sophia DeJesus-Sabella | Donise English | Philippe Halaburda | Jill Kerttula | Natalya Khorover | Barbara Korman | Carole P. Kunstadt | Lori Lawrence | Nicole Mazza | Sharon Pierce McCullough | Patricia Miranda | Elizabeth Morisette | Ellie Murphy | Diana Noh | Erik Jon Olson | Karla Rydrych | Michael Seri | Arlé Sklar-Weinstein | Mary Tooley Parker