Paolo Arao - West Shokan, NY
My name is Paolo and I live and work in West Shokan, NY which is upstate in the Catskills. I make sewn fabric paintings, hand-woven textiles and site-responsive installations that are rooted in geometric abstraction. I am mending this lineage of abstraction through the use of textiles; stitching patchworks that honors my Filipino heritage and explores the elastic nature of queerness.
Because my work is abstract, the queer content isn’t always obvious. This is intentional. It’s a form of resistance and a way of subverting expectations of what queerness looks like. Sometimes the queer content is conveyed through the specific materials I use (like my husband’s old clothes, which carry a personal meaning.) Or the way fabric behaves when it’s stretched over traditional wooden stretcher supports. The tension softens the rigidity and “straightness” of the hard-edged geometries, creating quivering seams. Other times it’s through awkward or unexpected color relationships; oddly shaped canvas supports; or suggestive titles.
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