Gabe Duggan

Abstract 02, 2016
polymer fibers on wood panel
40 x 32 in.

I create installations which combine techniques of traditional fiber work with disparate materials to explore physical and social forms of tension. By inheriting perceptions of fiber work as “women’s work,” my efforts are positioned in tension with misconceptions and inequalities around gender, labor, and class.

By building elaborate, inherently vulnerable systems of balance and tension, the viewer’s physical presence contends with impermanence, challenging material values rooted in issues of gender and class. Through foregrounds and backgrounds that shape-shift depending on perspective, initial perceptions are undermined, aesthetic and material hierarchies become disoriented.

Building from the context of a rich tradition, I stretch “women’s work” to give marginalized subjects more presence and agency.

© Gabe Duggan