Ramekon O’Arwisters: HOUSE OF

Rooted in the exploration of traditional textile and craft practices, the work of multimedia artist Ramekon O’Arwisters reflects his lived experiences as a Black and Queer man in the United States. Growing up in the de facto segregated Jim Crow South of the 1960s and 1970s and later moving to San Francisco during the pivotal 1990s—a transformative era for LGBTQ rights—O’Arwisters anchors his complex sculpture and socially engaged work in material and object politics, drawing from cultural, familial, and personal histories. These explorations materialize through a multitude of objects, including sharp ceramic shards, zip ties, leather, torture devices, and jewelry, which O’Arwisters densely knots, wraps, braids, and crochets into abstract forms using shredded fabrics. Through these combinations of found objects and craft techniques—many associated with domestic spaces, O’Arwisters investigates topics of intimacy, gender, race, and queer identity. Challenging the histories and inherent meanings of materials, O’Arwisters questions the neutrality or passivity of objects, while highlighting the pleasurable and painful histories they carry. These investigations into materialized emotion, spirituality, and trauma are uniquely informed by O’Arwisters’ background in divinity and his early connections to religious and spiritual practices. This is further reflected in his ideas and practice of crafting as an act of care, healing, and resilience—a concept rooted in childhood memories of his grandmother, Celia Jones Taylor, who first introduced him to quilt-making as a safe space for creative expression. This foundational experience resonates throughout O’Arwisters’ sculptural work and his socially engaged project Crochet Jam, which uses craft as a tool for healing, dialogue, and resistance, embodying his vision of art as a communal act of transformation and liberation. 

The presentation of HOUSE OF by Ramekon O’Arwisters includes a monographic selection of sculptures spanning five distinct bodies of work from 2016–2024. Each series investigates moments, realities, and memories that map formative experiences in O’Arwisters’ life as a Black and Queer individual in the United States. From Mending (2016–2018), rooted in the memory of his grandmother teaching him to quilt within the safety of the domestic space, to Cheesecake (2017–2019), which explores queer identity through opulent assemblages of colorful fabrics and jewelry, to his latest series, Black & Blue (2024), which sharply examines the pleasurable and painful realities and lived experiences of Black and Queer communities. 

Drawing its title from the 1962 jazz and racial protest song What Did I Do to Be So Black and Blue, O’Arwisters’ latest body of work builds on the exploration of the power and meaning of objects seen in earlier series such as Bitten (2022) and Flowered Thorns (2020–2021). In Bitten and Flowered Thorns, O’Arwisters delves into spirituality and sexuality, drawing from his upbringing in religious environments, his Divinity education, and the evolution of his Queer experiences. Notably, Bitten critiques creationist narratives of original sin and its association with sexual pleasure through a striking blend of materials, such as black zip ties, leather, clamps, and other objects used in BDSM erotic practices. Here, O’Arwisters transforms the weaponization of zip ties into implements of beauty and pleasure by combining them with frayed textiles and sharp ceramic shards. 

The exhibition also includes a series of black-and-white portraits printed on fabric that explore the connection between O’Arwisters’ body and the materials used in his sculptures. Most notably, HOUSE OF features three newly commissioned, monumental, tapestry-like wall works—the first of their kind by the artist. These tapestries revisit themes, materials, and crafting processes from previous bodies of work. Together, along with earlier sculptures, the chorus of works that form HOUSE OF echo and complicate linear ideas of beauty and pain while celebrating the strength, resilience, and vibrancy of Black and Queer communities. 

This exhibition is made possible with support by The Antonia and Vladimer Kulaev Heritage Fund and the Lehrman Family Charitable Fund, and is curated by Andres Payan Estrada.