All Things Being Blue

August 21 to October 9, 2021

August 21 to October 9, 2021

This exhibition by Upstate New York artist Anna Warfield is part of the Emerging Artist Exhibition series in partnership with the Cayuga Museum of History & Art. One part of the exhibit will be on view at the Cayuga Museum and the other part will be on view in Gallery Julius at the Schweinfurth.

The Schweinfurth and the Cayuga Museum are offering a reduced price joint admission ticket that allows viewers to see both parts of the exhibit. The $12 per person ticket can be purchased at either building.

Come to the opening at 5 to 8 PM Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021. The opening is free and open to the public. Light refreshments may be available weather permitting. Masks are required regardless of vaccination status.

Artist Statement

There’s an underlying sexualization of speech I explicitly engage with in my work. The stitched, stuffed didactic poems and commands are confrontational, mesmerizing, frightening, and purposefully pose more questions than provide answers. The commanding language directly addresses the viewer, drawing them into challenging conversations about body, sex, and language.

As an artist, I reclaim methods of making typically coded as feminine (i.e. sewing) in the interest of questioning perceptions of femininity in today’s society. In working with both fiber and text, I address complexities in sexuality, femininity, ownership, language, and voice. The materials serve to further complicate the picture. Beyond employing “women’s work” in the service of an unabashedly feminist voice the fibrous materials also in initially cause the works to read like comfort objects – squishable and soft – before revealing themselves to be explicit, demanding, or contorted. The fabric’s light colors and soft textures mask the tone of the text; disguising dominance with submission.

As I create work the evidence of my flawed and imperfect hand instills further meaning. It highlights my choice to work in bodily fashion as I create precious objects. These sculptural words are created through a process that is knowingly laborious, rhythmic, and methodical. The pieces come together after dying, cutting, sewing, and stuffing the material by hand to build up to a final poetic and sculptural form. The process of making is as much a worship-filled meditation as the ritual experience of the final exhibition of the work.