Female Artists Wield Needles in FiveMyles Show

Someone “in stitches” might be watching a film by Sacha Baron Cohen or dipping into the YouTube oeuvre of Andy Dick (but only if they have a sense of humor). If the TV show “Punk’d” transferred to England, it could be translated as “Stitched Up.”

That the language of sewing connotes some degree of laughability suggests the predicament of sewn art, which in the past was typically labeled “craft” instead of fine art. It was dismissed merely as decorative “women’s work.” A group show that opened last Saturday at the FiveMyles gallery, “Art/Sewn: Tradition, Innovation, Expression,” challenges such categorization with diverse work by nine needle-wielding artists.

The pieces on show have about as much to do with practical needlework as painterly arts have with Benjamin Moore. Cyrilla Mozenter’s felt constructions invite architectural comparisons, sprouting loose threads from their thick, soft walls like vines from overgrown buildings. Sculptural pieces by Elisa D’Arrigo made of cloth, paper, paint and thread jut from the wall like clods of earth or rock, in rough counterpoint to Mozenter’s work.

Ward Mintz, who curated the show, agreed that the works gain something from their juxtaposition: “The meditative approach of [Jessica] Rankin against the whip-stitched pieces by D’Arrigo,” he said, or “the tensions inherent in Mozenter’s felt sculpture juxtaposed with the conceptual environmentally-based work of [Anna] Von Mertens.”

Rankin’s wall hanging, “Empty Night,” looms lovely and large over the rest of the work in the show. Trails of embroidery on translucent black cloth create a haphazard topography of rivers, mountains, leaves and branches, amid which hangs a bright orange moon. The tangle of thread in places camouflages words like half-formed thoughts. “We have lost ourselves” emerges, among other fragments: something of a pun, as the words themselves are partially hidden in the embroidery's lines and loops.

Other works in the show refer more directly to the process of sewn art. Linnea Glatt stitches “Filled,” a precise, geometric work on mulberry paper, just as a pencil might have made the light, careful marks. Emily Barletta’s bright red thread in her works on paper emphasizes the marks more than the design. The stitching on one of her pieces looks very like hieroglyphics, creating an evocative contrast between ancient communication and innovative artistry.

Mintz, who runs a foundation focused on textile and needle arts, agreed to curate the show at the request of Hanne Tierney, FiveMyles’ energetic owner. Through his work with the Coby Foundation, a previous job at the Newark Museum and decades of familiarity with sewn art, Mintz was able to approach each artist in the show individually and invite them to participate.

“I felt I was seeing very strong work and wanted to show a range of approaches,” he said. “I had a sense that most people, outside of a small group in the fiber arts world, never get a chance to see this work.”

Tierney’s initial idea was for Mintz to curate a show about "women who sew." For the sake of narrowing the field as well as emphasizing feminist themes, he addressed the concept literally by solely including female artists.

“Interestingly, no one ever questioned why a male curator was doing this,” he said.

“Art/Sewn” continues through May 8. Gallery hours are 1 to 6 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, or call 1-718-783-4438 to make an appointment.