Join assistant curator Angelik Vizcarrondo-Laboy and artists Paolo Arao, Dance Doyle, and Erin M. Riley for a discussion of their creative practices in fiber and how artist residencies at both MAD and the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts furthered their explorations.

Co-presented by the Museum's Artist Studios residency program and the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, this event will take place on Zoom.

About the participants

2019 artist-in-residence Paolo Arao explores the queering of geometric abstraction through sewn paintings, fabric collage, and textile constructions. Using secondhand clothing, hand-dyed fabrics, and used canvas drop cloths, Arao creates compositions of bold color and repeated geometries that disrupt perceived symmetries and ask audiences to reconsider their expectations of what queerness looks like. Arao has presented solo exhibitions at Glass Box, Western Exhibitions, Barney Savage Gallery, Franklin Artworks, and Jeff Bailey Gallery. Arao is a recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship and received his BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University. 

2020 artist-in-residence Dance Doyle creates large-scale narrative tapestries that incorporate found and discarded objects. Doyle received a BFA in textiles from San Francisco State University. She served as vice president of Tapestry Weavers West, and is a member of the American Tapestry Alliance and the Textile Arts Council at the De Young Museum. Her work has been exhibited nationally, including at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, the Legion of Honor Museum, and the De Young Museum in San Francisco.

2015 artist-in-residence Erin M. Riley was born in Cape Cod, MA, and lives and works in Brooklyn. She received her BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, MA, and her MFA from the Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA. Her work has been featured in solo exhibitions throughout the U.S., the United Kingdom, and Australia, including New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia, among many others. Riley has lectured extensively throughout the country and has had residencies at The MacDowell Colony, NH, the Bemis Center, NE, and the Museum of Arts and Design.

Assistant curator Angelik Vizcarrondo-Laboy has helped organize over twenty exhibitions at the Museum. She also manages MAD’s Burke Prize, a contemporary craft award, and curates its accompanying exhibition. She holds a BA in Art History from the University of Florida with minors in Anthropology and Ceramics and an MA from the Bard Graduate Center, New York in Decorative Arts, Design History & Material Culture. Vizcarrondo-Laboy was born and raised in Puerto Rico.