Howard el-Yasin’s My Mother’s Hose hangs at one end of Orchid Gallery in The Lab at ConnCORP, redolent with associations without landing definitively on a single one. From a certain frame of mind, the associations can be literally visceral: with intestines, or for that matter, the products of intestines. It could also be sausages, however, or a balloon animal. Or, abstracted, it could be figures embracing one another. The associations multiply when we learn that the sculpture (as the name reveals) is made from pantyhose, but is stuffed with plastic, burlap, a boa, a cardigan sweater, and a cotton shirt. The sculpture is an act of preservation, but also transformation. There’s no one answer that brings it together.
El-Yasin’s piece is part of“Origins,” running now at Orchid Gallery through Oct. 17. As curator nico w. okoro explains,“Origins” is the second show for Orchid Gallery since it opened earlier this year with the goals of showcasing Black and Brown artists in the community, supporting their professional development, and making a place where artists can come together.
