Artist & Curator Tour of “Hot House”

Join artist Layla Klinger (they/them) and Curatorial Fellow Cydney Pickens for a walkthrough of Hot House, on view through September 9, 2023.

Pickens and Klinger will tour the gallery, exploring the concept behind the works and unpacking recurring themes in Klinger’s artistic practice. This tour will answer questions surrounding Klinger’s thought process while creating these works, their interests as a craftsperson and art historian, and how this exhibition came to be.

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Layla Klinger: Hot House features contemporary lace creations and larger-than-life electroluminescent installations by the Brooklyn-based fiber artist, Layla Klinger. Born in Tel Aviv, Klinger (they/them) works with fiber, light and electric currents to investigate intimacy, erotic compulsions, and beauty as merit.

Using electroluminescent wire and playing with code, Klinger creates large-scale, light-emitting, bobbin lace installations, which generate incredible variations in light patterns. The works are displayed in dark rooms, and Klinger says the holes in the lace become defined not by the physical reality of the wires but by the light. “Through activating different light configurations, the holes become unstable: splitting, expanding, appearing, and disappearing.”

Klinger’s Jewish heritage and upbringing also play an integral role in their artistic practice and content. Hands are a recurring motif in their work, as they are representative of labor, hand craftsmanship, and physical-erotic  connection. This exhibition marks Klinger’s first major solo exhibition in the United States and includes small, handmade bobbins for lace making, as well as their vibrant, interactive light installations.

Hot House is curated by HCCC Curatorial Fellow, Cydney Pickens.

About Layla Klinger

Born and raised in Tel Aviv, Layla Klinger (they/them) is an artist and designer, working with textiles, new media, and installation. Klinger took up crocheting at 19 and ever since has dedicated their life to working with textiles and fibers. Their work and approach are rooted in queerness, both conceptually and as a practical guideline to making. Klinger’s artistic practice focuses on conserving traditional lace-making through new materials and queer narratives, creating erotic tension, and employing seduction as a strategy for craft conservation.

Klinger is a graduate of Parsons School of Design and the Textile Design department of Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art, specializing in knit. They spent a semester studying at The Swedish School of Textiles in Borås, Sweden, and they were an intern in a bespoke embroidery studio in London. They have exhibited their work in shows and festivals in New York, Los Angeles, Berlin, and Tel Aviv. Klinger is currently living in New York, teaching textile and fashion studio practices at Parsons School of Design.