“These are the plans and nothing can tear down
Made out of things that have already been torn down”
Hoping Machine is a two-person exhibition featuring the works of painter Hannah Rust and weaver Sophia DeJesus-Sabella. The title pulls from Woody Guthrie’s 1943 New Year’s Rulin’s, which includes “Keep hoping machine running.” Hoping Machine reflects on survival, upkeep, and desire in the time of climate catastrophe through the lens of the femme experience. Hoping Machine speaks to the uncanny routine of maintenance, whether it is maintenance of self or maintenance of structures. The works range from multimedia paintings to sculptural weavings, incorporating polyethylene tarp, PVC pipe, ash, sawdust, and other materials enmeshed with manual labor to speak to provisional strategies of perseverance.
On view: October 27 – December 9, 2023
Opening reception: Saturday November 4, 6 - 9pm
Hannah Rust (b. 1998) is a painter from Massachusetts. Her work frequently depicts figures materializing out of truck smog, wildfire smoke, and similar scenes of mayhem. The worlds she depicts propose the possibility of magical thinking during an age of climate catastrophe. In May 2023 she graduated from Massachusetts College of Art and Design with a BFA Painting, and was a 2023 recipient of the George Nick Prize.
Sophia DeJesus-Sabella (b. 1997) is an artist, weaver, and educator based in Hartford, Connecticut. Her woven and sculptural works interrogate class, gender, queerness, and utility by combining traditional craft with found objects and construction materials. She has been an Artist in Residence at Byrdcliffe, ACRE, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts and Hartford Artisans Weaving Center. She has received grants from New England Foundation for the Arts, Assets for Artists, and Northwest Connecticut Arts Council. She graduated with Departmental Honors in Fibers from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2019.