tender threads
Surey Art Gallery – September 26-December 6, 2026
Seam, 2019, wool, 30.48 cm x 30.48 cm.
During my first explorations with unweaving, I learned that my grandfather was a sarape weaver in the mountains southwest of Mexico City. It was here, on our familial ranch, that he raised sheep, dyed their wool, and wove in a tradition passed down. I thought of how intergenerational knowledge could pass down the ability to weave, even though I had never woven before, and so I began on a journey to learn. Seam is my first attempt at weaving; the long, twisted fringes were left the length they were on my loom—this is all the wool that went into the process of making.
Less Than Two and More Than One 1, 2018, linen, 197 cm x 96.5 cm.
Less Than Two and More Than One 2, 2018, linen, 152.5 cm x 87.5 cm.
Less Than Two and More Than One 1 and Warmest Mlue are rooted in the same exploration—the translation of paintings into textiles—that generated an ongoing body of work. My goal is to uncover a weaving within the fibres themselves. I make drawings to explore the patterns I can create with a length of woven linen. Working with a needle and tweezers, each thread to be removed is individually separated and pulled out, leaving behind a space in its place. Through this repeated action, patterns like those in Warmest Mlue become visible. These textiles are not weaving; rather, they are unweavings; beginning as finished textiles that are unwoven to become something new.
This process is further expanded in Less Than Two and More Than One 1 & 2. Here, the threads that were removed from Less Than Two and More Than One 1 are tied end to end and used to stretch over a frame loom and rewoven into a new work—Less Than Two and More Than One 2.
Warmest Mlue, 2026, linen, 152 cm x 152 cm.
Study For An Unweaving 19 (Warmest Mlue), 2026, graphite on paper, 11 cm x 11 cm (paper size 14.8 cm x 10.5 cm).
Y Mis Huesos se Sienten Viegos, 2019 - 2026.
Bringing together textile, sculptural, and text-based works, this exhibition considers weaving as an embodied practice through which acts of making become gestures of memory, inherited knowledge, and self-exploration.
Both artists engage with family histories and inherited cultural narratives. Cleave incorporates pine needles and rice grains into their woven sculptures—everyday materials with cultural significance across East Asia. Vega as Floodwater and Sieve reimagine the folktale of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, known in Japan as Hikoboshi, a mortal man, and Orihime, a celestial deity. The two fell in love but were separated by the Milky Way. Using organic materials that warp and break, Cleave assembles delicate sculptures held together through a meticulous and laborious process.
Through his own interest in weaving, Jonathan Alfaro stumbled upon his grandfather’s weaving practice under Spanish colonialism. In Y Mis Huesos se Sienten Viejos,he examines the complex relationship between family lineage and self-identity. In addition to working with traditional weaving techniques, Alfaro developed techniques to deconstruct linen fabrics, creating intricate patterns that accentuate the texture of the material, reconstructing them into something new and beautiful.
Through their respective experimentation with the technique and materiality of weaving, Alfaro’s and Cleave’s works reimagine the medium’s form and dimensionality.
curated by Zoe YangAll images by Michael Love Photography