Jessie Henson

Using an industrial sewing machine and delicate polyester and nylon thread, Jessie Henson builds on the language of postwar American abstraction, while writing a new chapter in the long history of embroidery. Henson, who learned to embroider during her childhood in Cincinnati, Ohio, engages a labor-intensive and time-consuming process to repeatedly sew onto handmade paper. As the thread accrues to form a dense, velvety coating, the paper can no longer sustain the surface tension, leading to warping, creasing, and tearing. Henson applies shimmering gold leaf to some of the works, encouraging light to dance across their surfaces, lending the already jewel-like objects an air of opulence. Her exhibition in the Riley CAP Gallery features several small bronze casts made from found embroideries that nod to her early interest in the possibilities of thread alongside a selection of sewn paper works in vibrant colors, including a new multi-component installation that transforms one wall of the gallery into an undulating topography.

Pictured: Jessie Henson (American, b. 1977), On the Line VI, 2024, polyester and rayon thread on paper, framed: 48 1/4 × 33 15/16 × 3 1/2 in. (122.6 × 86.4 × 8.9 cm), © Jessie Henson, Courtesy the artist and Broadway Gallery, New York