pillowfort logic

I use textiles, everyday objects, and my own studio archive to create assemblages that feel both abstract and familiar. Some pieces remain intact for months or years while others are quickly swallowed up by the studio and spit back out in new form. I get to know my supplies through a variety of actions, including (but not limited to) ripping, wrapping, drilling, cutting, mounting, stapling, painting, and tying. With each act of transformation, my materials become increasingly self-referential and the work becomes more and more about its history and the sensation of its making. My body has no preconceived notions as to what the materials are or how they should act, creating a liberatory practice of working intuitively, embracing play, and challenging my own conceptions of what’s possible.

This methodology of reimagining what already exists is central to the works on display, where function and aesthetic are inverted many times over. Objects have roles that differ from the manufacturer’s intent—a purse does not hold, rather it is held. As rearrangements of my environment, these pieces mimic the act of building a fort in the living room where chairs are walls and blankets are roofs. The parts may return to work tomorrow, but for now the world is ours.

Documentation by Forrest Frederick.