Curatorial Practice
Since 2010, I have curated multiple exhibitions, including Designed to Mobilize: Propaganda Kimono 1920-1945, which illustrated the influence of patterns manufactured as propaganda during the Asia-Pacific War, and Reimagined: Innovations in Fiber, an exhibition of Miami-based contemporary artists characterized by their use of experimental materials. My award winning-curatorial work has been featured in Forbes, Culture Type, and numerous media outlets. View a brief summary of select past exhibitions and exhibition-related projects below!
"Intertwined" Installation View, MoFA, Florida State University. Photo by Ivan Peñafiel.
Intertwined: Labor and Technology in Contemporary Textile Art, 2023.
"Intertwined: Labor and Technology in Contemporary Textile Art" calls attention to the dynamism of textile-related practice through the work of contemporary artists including Fabiola Jean-Louis, Shaheer Zazai, Jeffrey Gibson, Carrie Sieh, Ahree Lee, Kate Nartker, Yvonne Osei, and Aaron Rothman, among others. Working across a variety of interdisciplinary lenses and media, these innovative artists explore themes of labor and agency that simultaneously highlight and subvert our expectations. By blurring the perceived boundaries of tradition in both tangible and intangible ways, this exhibition challenges viewers to consider new, inclusive possibilities for artmaking at a critical time.
Chakaia Booker: Surface Pressure, 2023.
Chakaia Booker: Surface Pressure celebrates the diverse work of multimedia artist Chakaia Booker. Booker is renowned for her expert manipulation of unconventional materials, transforming perceived visual tensions into compellingly unified compositions. Her complex body of work challenges viewers to consider the nature of their relationships with one another and the world at large. The exhibition featured over a dozen works, including prints, paintings, and monumental reclaimed tire sculptures, from across the artist’s extensive career.
Installation view of Chakaia Booker: Surface Pressure, July 2023. Sarasota Art Museum, Ringling College of Art and Design, Sarasota, FL. Photo by Frances Grant.
Virtual Beader programmer, Federico Giovine (Aerospace Engineering, Florida Tech Class of 2020), poses with the completed project. Melbourne, FL.
“Virtual Beader,” Digital Application for Ubuhle Women: Beadwork and the Art of Independence, 2020.
This digital application, a collaborative student project, was designed to accompany the presentation of a South African beadwork exhibition traveled by International Arts and Artists. Virtual Beader invited museum visitors to virtually “complete” a deceased artist’s unfinished work. The exhibition was also complemented by a click360 virtual tour which can be viewed here.
Designed to Mobilize: Propaganda Kimono 1920 - 1945, 2019
This exhibition focused on the iconography, motifs, and metaphors displayed in Japanese objects manufactured as propaganda during the Asia-Pacific War (1931 – 1945). Produced within a nation primed to advance its cultural identity on the world stage, textiles provide an important lens for understanding the role of consumerism, coercion, and fashion during a remarkable and controversial period of transition. The exhibition was complemented by a click360 virtual tour which can be viewed here.
Installation view of Designed to Mobilize, January 2020, Florida Tech, Melbourne, FL. Photo by Dominic Agostini.
Not Quite Sew: Maggy Rozycki Hiltner, 2018
This presentation featured embroideries hand-stitched from salvaged and recycled materials. Hiltner’s work critiques gender and familial relationships through the artist’s portrayal of idealized and subversive subjects.
Maggy R. Hiltner, Pink Cloud (detail), 2006, hand-stitched cotton and found textiles, 5 x 13 ft. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Flora and Fiber, 2017
This exhibition explored the use and depiction of flowers and foliage in fiber art. From their ability to visually inspire iconography to their use as raw material for hand-weaving and dyeing, plants have a unique relationship to the creation and adornment of textiles across the globe. Flora and Fiber presented the botanical sources, application and iconography in textiles from three continents, specifically highlighting Asian textiles’ profound and enduring influence on the development of modern fashion and design.
Installation view of Flora and Fiber, May 2017, Florida Tech, Melbourne, FL. Photo by Dominic Agostini.
Installation view of Content Creators and Luxuriated Bodies by Carrie Sieh, 2014. Crocheted VHS tape, acrylic, and copper nails. Photo by Dominic Agostini, courtesy of the Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts, Florida Tech.
Reimagined: Innovations in Fiber with Alex Trimino and Carrie Sieh, 2016
This exhibition presented the work of Miami-based contemporary artists whose manipulation of fiber is characterized by their use of experimental materials. By challenging traditionally conceived “craft” materials and redefining their context, sourced items such as neon lights and VHS tape are reinvented, showcasing the role of textiles as a visually communicative and diverse art form.
Light and Shadow: Contemporary Fiber Art by Hye Shin, 2015
Born and raised in South Korea, the contemporary fiber artist Hye Shin is known for her large, richly textured wall hangings and, more recently, her sculptural installations. Nature is a primary source of inspiration in Shin’s body of work; rather than conveying a literal representation of it, her abstract weavings and atmospheric installations are focused on expressing a sense of place, mood or feeling. The pieces created for this exhibition were characterized by the dichotomy of the natural world (light vs. shadow, sadness vs. joy, life vs. death and recovery). The artist believes these qualities are inherent to nature and critical to understanding and appreciating its beauty.
Installation view of Sunken Dreams by Hye Shin, 2014. Styrofoam, wire, digital printed silk. Photo by Dominic Agostini, courtesy of the Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts, Florida Tech.
Students from University Park Elementary School view “Immune” (2009) by Marina Dempster. Photo by Donna Sewell, courtesy of the Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts, Florida Tech, 2014.
Embellished: A Celebration of Wearable Art, 2014
In commemoration of the fifth anniversary of the Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts, this exhibition presented over forty examples of contemporary wearable art by artists Ann Clarke, Marina Dempster, Kerr Grabowski and center namesake and benefactor Ruth Funk. Works on display highlighted the diversity of the wearable art movement and emphasized the innovation of diverse surface design techniques.