October 8 – November 27, Seven Sisters
Featuring artwork by Rachel M. Thornton
October 8 – November 27, 2021
Exhibition Opens Friday, October 8, during regular gallery hours
Artist Talk: Thursday, October 28, 7:00 p.m.
Rachel Thornton, Maia, 2018, cyanotype and embroidery on unbleached cotton
Seven Sisters features artist Rachel M. Thornton’s series of large, embroidered cyanotypes and an accompanying book, all of which explore embodied connections to the cosmos highlighted in the myth of the Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters.
The works in Seven Sisters propose alternative theories for the development of the observable cosmos based on understanding the night sky through touch. Combining newly-imagined and pre-existing stars, galaxies and constellations, these works create a new arrangement of the cosmos which considers our bodily relationship to galactic beings of unfathomable scales at incomprehensible distances.
Seven Sisters combines subjective information like stories, myths, and personal connections to the stars with scientific, fact-based reasoning about the cosmos to suggest new ways of rationalizing the world around us.
Rachel will join us for an artist talk about Seven Sisters in the gallery on Thursday, October 28 at 7:00 p.m., hosted by AX volunteer and professional artist Bonny Hill. During this talk, Thornton will speak about their process and research that connects the body, astronomy, and mythological cosmology as they try to understand the night sky through touch.
About the Artist
Rachel M. Thornton is an emerging artist and curator living in Sackville, NB, a part of the Siknikt District within the greater territory of Mi’kma’ki. Their fascination with understanding the cosmos has manifested itself as drawings, book works, and online projects.
The artist would like to acknowledge the support of ArtsNB’s Creation Grant Program.
Thanks to the New Brunswick Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture for their support of this exhibition and artist talk.