Bound by the High Desert: Contemporary Fiber Art, opening May 15, 2026, at El Zaguán
This May, I’m honored to be included in Bound by the High Desert: Contemporary Fiber Art at El Zaguán 545 Canyon Road, presented by Historic Santa Fe Foundation. The exhibition in Santa Fe brings together five New Mexico-based artists including myself, Benita Ortega-Rael, Nancy Kozikowski, Pando Speer, and Dain Daller, whose work reflects both deep-rooted traditions and contemporary approaches to fiber as a fine art medium.
Set within the adobe walls of this historic space, the exhibition highlights how fiber practices continue to evolve while remaining grounded in place, material, and cultural memory. There is something especially meaningful about showing this work in a site where history is not abstract, it is physically present.
Exhibition Details
Opening Reception: Friday, May 15, 2026 | 5–7 PM
On View Through: June 20, 2026
Artist Talk: June 20 at 2 PM (free, registration required)
Interconnected Materials, Living Systems
My work in this exhibition continues an ongoing exploration of interconnectedness- between humans and the natural world, between materials and memory, between what is seen and what is felt.
Working primarily in wool, plant fibers, and stones, I create felted and embroidered forms that function as contemporary altars. These pieces emerge through slow, tactile processes including wet felting, needle felting and stitching. Through this work I’m collaborating with water, pressure, and time to transform raw fiber into structure. Many of the materials I use are gathered locally or sourced through reuse, carrying traces of place and human history.
Guided by animism and ecological attunement, I approach these materials as collaborators. The work becomes a site of relationship between body and place, between care and making. Within the context of this exhibition, I see these forms as part of a larger conversation about how traditional fiber practices continue to hold relevance today, not only as craft, but as a way of thinking, sensing, and connecting.
Artist Talk: Fiber as Continuity and Change
On Saturday, June 20 at 2 PM, I’ll be participating in an artist conversation moderated by Anne Kelly alongside Nancy Kozikowski, Pando Speer, and Dain Daller.
This conversation asks a simple but expansive question: What does it mean to create in fiber today?
We’ll be speaking about process, material knowledge, and the ways fiber practices carry both ancestral memory and contemporary experimentation. It’s a great opportunity to hear directly from artists working across different fiber traditions and approaches.
Workshop: Mindful Making – Wet-Felted Vessels
I’ll also be offering a hands-on workshop:
Mindful Making: Creating Wet-Felted Vessels
Saturday, May 23, 2026 | 1–4 PM
This workshop is rooted in both technique and presence. Participants will learn the fundamentals of wet felting while creating hollow wool vessels using water, natural soap, and fiber. We’ll begin with a short grounding practice to support attention and connection to the materials, then move into the physical process of shaping and forming.
Wet felting is an ancient practice that is simple, yet deeply transformative. My goal is to create a space where participants can engage both creatively and reflectively, leaving with a finished object and a deeper sense of connection to material and process.
No prior experience is needed, and all materials are provided.
Looking Forward
This exhibition feels like a meaningful convergence of place, material, and community. To be showing alongside artists who are deeply engaged with fiber traditions in New Mexico, and to share this work within a historic space dedicated to preservation and cultural continuity, feels both grounding and expansive.
If you’re in Santa Fe this spring, I’d love to see you at the opening, the artist talk, or in the workshop.
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