Past Exhibit

PLATFORM 31: Rachel Hayes, The Edge of Becoming

Fruitlands Museum

Harvard

a colorful banner sits on a hill with blue sky and clouds in the background

Landscape recalls you into a mindful mode of stillness, solitude, and silence, where you can truly receive time. – John O’Donohue

Rachel Hayes creates vibrant large-scale textile installations that respond to their natural and built environments. She often repurposes pieces of nylon and cotton from previous works and arranges them into grid-like compositions reminiscent of Modern abstract styles and American quilt-making traditions. By blurring craft, sculpture, architecture and land art, Hayes’s works complicate notions of fragility and power, and invite new ways to engage with our surroundings.

The Edge of Becoming is a new outdoor commission by Hayes installed along the hillside of Fruitlands Museum’s property, and expands upon her indoor exhibition Transcending Space. Hayes chose fabrics with bright colors that both relate to Shaker textiles found in the museum’s collection and evoke a sense of optimism sought after by the site’s Transcendentalist founders. Its title draws from theories by Irish philosopher John O’Donohue, who voiced connections between beauty and the edges of life. A threshold between the viewer and the space beyond Nashua River valley, The Edge of Becoming encourages meditative moments for reflection on oneself in connection to the world.

Main Image Caption: Rachel Hayes, The Edge of Becoming, 2023, nylon, cotton, steel, aircraft cable. Courtesy of the artist. Image: Mel Taing

 

About the Artist

Rachel Hayes was born in Kansas City, Missouri and lives and works in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She received her Bachelors of Fine Arts in Fiber from the Kansas City Art Institute, and her Masters of Fine Arts in Painting from Virginia Commonwealth University. In 2018, Hayes collaborated with the Italian fashion house Missoni, which culminated in a solo exhibition for Milan Design Week, as well as a site-specific installation at the flagship Missoni boutique on Madison Avenue in New York. She has exhibited her work at institutions including the SculptureCenter in New York City, and recently completed a site-specific installation for the 16th edition of Contemporary Istanbul, an international art fair in Turkey.

Support provided by the Coby Foundation, Ltd.

About PLATFORM:

PLATFORM is a series of commissioned projects by early- and mid-career artists that engage with the unique landscape and history of a site. The PLATFORM series originated at deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in 2010. PLATFORM 31: Rachel Hayes, The Edge of Becoming will be the first commission from this series to be shown at Fruitlands Museum. We invite you to deCordova to visit additional PLATFORM projects on view in the Sculpture Park.

PLATFORM 31: Rachel Hayes, The Edge of Becoming is on view June 2023 through Spring 2024 at Fruitlands Museum at 102 Prospect Hill Road, Harvard, MA 01451.

Please be aware, we have taken steps to reduce pests near the vicinity of The Edge of Becoming, but anytime you are out in nature, it is a good to keep an eye out for ticks and poison ivy. Please prepare for your visit accordingly, and for your own safety, stay on the established paths.