Vital Forms, an exhibition of six artists united by a single conviction: cloth is capable of far more than most people assume. On view June 2–27, 2026, with an opening reception on June 13th from 3-5 pm, at 529 West 20th Street, 6th floor, Chelsea.

Vital Forms opens in conversation with Jennifer Fons’ concurrent solo exhibition Hiraeth, creating a rare opportunity to experience two distinct visions of contemporary textile art simultaneously.

The six artists, Sandra Giunta, Susan Else, Sherri Lipman McCauley, Émilie Trahan, Lenny van Eijk, and Carol Paik, work in strikingly different languages.

Giunta constructs intricate three-dimensional ecosystems from felted and sculptural cloth, conjuring coral reefs and living organisms with extraordinary precision.

Else builds figurative sculptures from collage and quilted cloth over armature, darkly witty works that examine mortality and the quiet drama of everyday existence.

McCauley transforms hundreds of collected coffee cozies into an immersive hanging installation that confers dignity on the discarded and the overlooked. 

Trahan works in explosive botanical abstraction, building dense layered surfaces that pulse with color and organic energy. 

Van Eijk’s large-scale abstract textiles command space with bold biomorphic forms and complete unselfconscious authority. 

Paik works with repurposed textiles and found materials, finding unexpected tension between the domestic and the cosmic in works that ask to be looked at again.

Together they make a compelling case that textiles have been long underestimated in the contemporary art conversation.

Vital Forms is on view June 2–27, 2026.

Opening Reception:  June 13, 3-5 pm.