Current Exhibitions
Open Lens XVI
June 4 - July 12, 2026​
Founders' Gallery
Featured Artist Wall
Karyn McAdams
Wild Threads
The Spirit of the Wild, Stitched in Time
June 4 - June 28, 2026​
Karyn McAdams unveils Wild Threads, a captivating solo exhibition that celebrates the beauty and spirit of the natural world through the art of threadpainting. Using her sewing machine as a painter’s brush, McAdams layers hand-dyed canvases and fabrics, weaving thousands of stitches to create wildlife portraits that radiate depth, texture, and emotion.
Each work is an intricate composition that blurs the line between painting and textile art.
McAdams’ meticulous attention to detail and painterly use of thread give rise to an extraordinary realism — each feather, fur strand, and gaze imbued with life and soul.
"When I threadpaint, I’m not just depicting an animal — I’m capturing its energy, its quiet power, McAdams explains.
"The process feels almost meditative, as though the wild is speaking back through the thread."
The Wild Threads collection includes large-scale animal portraits such as the alpaca, bison, and fox, alongside smaller works that explore the intimate beauty of creatures like the owl, zebra, koala and buck. Together, the collection invites viewers to reflect on our shared connection with the natural world.
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Each of my threadpaintings begins not with a plan, but with a feeling—an intuitive pull toward a creature whose spirit calls to me. I work with layers of hand-dyed and eco-painted fabrics as my canvas, then build depth and movement through thousands of stitches. Using my sewing machine as a brush, I “paint” with thread—blending color and texture until the animal seems to emerge from the surface and meet the viewer’s gaze.
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Wild Threads is a journey into connection—between human and animal, chaos and calm, fragility and strength. Every fiber carries energy; every stitch is a meditation on stillness within motion. These works are not just portraits, but reflections of instinct, freedom, and resilience.
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Through this collection, I hope to remind viewers of the beauty that exists when we truly see the
living world around us—and the wild threads that bind us to it.
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Click the instagram icon to visit her account and view hundreds of images and videos of her textile art.
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June 2026