Real and Imagined: Fabric Works and Video Animations by Heidi Kumao
September 15 – December 4, 2020
Hybrid Event
Stamps Gallery
201 South Division Street
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104
Map/Directions
Hours/Access
Exhibition
Open to the public
Free of charge
Stamps Gallery is pleased to present Real and Imagined: Fabric Works and Video Animations, a solo exhibition of narrative fabric works and experimental animations by Stamps Professor Heidi Kumao.
Using fabric cutouts and machine and hand stitching on industrial felt, Kumao gives physical form to the intangible dynamics underlying ordinary conversations and relationships from a feminist perspective. Intentionally minimal, each image distills an interaction, traumatic incident, or power imbalance into an accessible visual narrative. Recognizable objects such as chairs, roots, ladders, or spotlights set the stage for the story to unfold. Events are captured midstream, suspended in time like a felt film still.
The exhibition is inspired, in part, by the courage, testimony, and experiences of women (like Christine Blasey Ford) who publicly report assault, harassment, or misconduct. The #MeToo movement gave voice to thousands of women to tell their personal stories, but also exposed a hostile backlash meant to silence them. The title, “Real and Imagined,” is a deliberate contradiction; if one is true, the other must not be. In practice, however, both terms are used to reference a woman’s testimony and determine how it is publicly interpreted. Her account is accepted as truthful by many and simultaneously dismissed as imaginary by the court of public opinion: “her memory is wrong,” “she imagined it.”
The works in “Real and Imagined: Fabric Works and Video Animations” make difficult conversations and relationships tangible by stripping them down to their essentials.
Wordless physical gestures highlight the psychological and emotional forces at play behind even the smallest of interactions.
Biography
Heidi Kumao has created award-winning experimental films, video installations, cinema machines, electronic clothing, and kinetic sculptures. She has exhibited her work in solo and group exhibitions nationally and internationally including shows at Art Science Museum Singapore, Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, Fundació Joan Miró (Barcelona), and Museu da Imagem e do Som (São Paulo). She has received fellowships from the Creative Capital Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the New York Foundation for the Arts. She is a professor at the Stamps School of Art & Design at the University of Michigan.
Related Events
- Virtual Exhibition Tour with Artist Heidi Kumao - October 1, 2020
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Heidi Kumao: So Below
Link to work »
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Heidi Kumao: Growth
Link to work »
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3/37
Heidi Kumao: Reluctant Narrator
Link to work »
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4/37
Heidi Kumao: Grey Blob
Link to work »
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5/37
Heidi Kumao: Locker
Link to work »
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Heidi Kumao: Locker (detail)
Link to work »
Heidi Kumao: Locker (detail)Thread and fabric on industrial felt, 2020
39.5 x 36.5 in -
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Heidi Kumao: Analog
Link to work »
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8/37
Heidi Kumao: Restrained Accommodation (Gust)
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Heidi Kumao: Restrained Accommodation (Gust)Thread and fabric on industrial felt, 2020
16 x 7.75 in -
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Heidi Kumao: Remains
Link to work »
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10/37
Heidi Kumao: The Hearing
Link to work »
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11/37
Heidi Kumao: Consultation
Link to work »
Heidi Kumao: ConsultationThread and fabric on industrial felt, 2020
18.75 x 19.25 in -
12/37
Heidi Kumao: Prospect
Link to work »
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Heidi Kumao: Poised
Link to work »
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Heidi Kumao: Shared Assumptions
Link to work »
Heidi Kumao: Shared AssumptionsFabric and thread on industrial felt, 2020
10.5 x 8.75 in -
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Heidi Kumao: Death Bed
Link to work »
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Heidi Kumao: Gulf of Missed Opportunities
Link to work »
Heidi Kumao: Gulf of Missed OpportunitiesThread and fabric on industrial felt, 2020
18 1/8 x 20.5 in -
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Heidi Kumao: Safe and Secure
Link to work »
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Heidi Kumao: Refuse
Link to work »
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Heidi Kumao: Recollection
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Heidi Kumao: 3 Hands
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Heidi Kumao: Restrained Accommodation 2
Link to work »
Heidi Kumao: Restrained Accommodation 2Thread and fabric on industrial felt, 2020
11.75 x 11 7/8 in -
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Heidi Kumao: Gulf with Shield
Link to work »
Heidi Kumao: Gulf with ShieldThread and fabric on industrial felt, 2020
w 23 7/8 x h 23 5/8 in -
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Heidi Kumao: Holding Pattern
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Heidi Kumao: Holding PatternThread and fabric on industrial felt, 2020
Each one 12 x 12 in; Overall dimensions w30 x h27 inches -
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Heidi Kumao: Expectations
Link to work »
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Heidi Kumao: Salvage
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Heidi Kumao: Interference
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Heidi Kumao: Safe and Sound 2
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Heidi Kumao: The Hearing #2
Link to work »
Heidi Kumao: The Hearing #2Thread and fabric on industrial felt, 2020
h 72 x w 39.5 in -
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Heidi Kumao: Surveillance Hill
Link to work »
Heidi Kumao: Surveillance HillStitching and fabric on industrial felt, 2020
h 23.5 x w 15 in -
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Heidi Kumao: Whistle Blowers: The Same Complaint
Link to work »
Heidi Kumao: Whistle Blowers: The Same ComplaintThread and fabric on industrial felt, 2020
h 20 x w 21 in -
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Heidi Kumao: Ration
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Heidi Kumao: Admissions
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Heidi Kumao: Devoured
Link to work »
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Heidi Kumao: Consultation
Link to work »
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Heidi Kumao: Scamper
Link to work »
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Heidi Kumao: Regard
Link to work »
Media
201 South Division Street
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104
Map/Directions
- Sunday: Closed
- Monday: Closed
- Tuesday: Closed
- Wednesday: 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
- Thursday: 11:00 am – 7:00 pm
- Friday: 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
- Saturday: 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
The gallery will close early at 4pm on Thursday, September 22, 2022 for an event.