In her first solo exhibition on the East Coast, New England-based artist Alexa Guariglia indulges her interest in textile and garment design to explore the playful exchange that allows ideas to develop across disciplines. Works on paper and studio remnants inform printed textiles as well as painted and sewn fiber portraits. Paired together, they offer a glimpse into the circuitous life cycle of an idea in the artist’s studio.

Guariglia’s works on paper, finely patterned with florals and figures, are the foundation and often the product of her intuitive process. Like pruning plants, she cuts her large-scale drawings to make them sprout in new directions. Some clippings live on as “seed bags” – familiar bits, full of potential, harvested and saved for the right conditions. Others decompose and feed patterns and forms into new designs and drawings. Still others take root and stand alone, miniature worlds made bigger by being set apart.

The pragmatism with which these pieces can be usurped from their whole points to the disorienting fluidity of the artist’s subjects and textures. While some figures are magnified and become models for garment designs and fabric constructions, others shrink and fade into patterns to be printed. Through this willingness to destruct and rework her paintings, Guariglia explores the relationships between drawing and sewing, painting and textile design.

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The Seed Exchange: A community art project

Inspired by Alexa’s Seed Bags, we are sending out little bundles of fragmented thoughts that just might grow into something more.

Throughout the run of the exhibition, visitors will be invited to contribute “seeds”, small drawings or pieces of discarded projects – anything so long as it’s flat and no larger than 3×5 inches. There will be some materials available to create a contribution in the gallery, but items from home are welcome as well.

On November 2 from 6 to 8pm, the public is invited to explore these donations and collect a few favorites into a “seed bag,” which can be given as a gift to spread inspiration and ideas far and wide.