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Date: 9/26/2023
WESTFIELD — “Labors of Love: Doilies and Lace Reimagined” may be pretty to look at, but a closer look at the Westfield Athenaeum exhibit by Southampton artist Felice Caivano reveals some ugly truths.
“I want to draw attention to what has become an all but forgotten craft form, to give the viewer pause to think about the needlework and especially the uncredited women who made the work,” said Caivano, who is also chair of the visual art department at Holyoke Community College. “I’d also like the viewer to think about the labor involved in making the doilies and lace. Overall, the people, the labor, the lost craft, and also what the doilies meant to the women who made them and those who used them.”
The exhibit, which is free to view during the Athenaeum’s open hours through Oct. 28, consists of a site-specific installation called “Uncredited” along with two other art works titled “When” and “Labors of Love.”
Caivano started collecting doilies in 2018 after she was invited to participate in an exhibition called “The Vote.” With “Uncredited,” she celebrates the traditional needle art of doilies and acknowledges those who made them in the past.
“I see the individual doily as a shared symbol of customs that suggest the transfer of material culture by the way of needlework practices,” Caivano explained. “Each common doily serves as a reminder of the many hands of their makers and the varied traditions they represent.”
“When” is a work of hand-embroidered doilies that have been decorated with the amount that women were paid, compared with men, since the Equal Pay Act of 1963. Doilies representing each year since then are arranged in the shape of a dollar sign.
“Labors of Love” is a large ball of lace trim conjuring images of string balls made from salvaged materials saved by women and found in many households of the past.
The exhibition has been on view since Sept. 11 in the Jasper Rand Gallery at the Athenaeum. Caivano installed hundreds of dollies to cover the gallery walls in the Athenaeum’s first-ever site-specific installation.
Executive Director Guy McLain explained, “The Athenaeum is dedicated to hosting important regional artists who are creating unique and ground-breaking work. When we heard of the important work that Felice was doing related to highlighting the unrecognized creativity of many women from the past, we looked forward to having her exhibit and her beautiful art works at the Athenaeum.” He continued, “Felice’s art is unique, subtle, and impressive in its range. Since she’s one of the most important artists working in Western Massachusetts today, we wanted to bring her art to the Westfield community.”
In addition to her role at Holyoke Community College, Caivano was the fine arts curator at Trinity College for many years. She has been a visiting artist at the American Academy of Rome, Italy, and an artist in residence at the Scuola Internazionale di Grafica in Venice. She also received a fellowship in sculpture from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from the Hartford Art School and a master of fine arts from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
“Installing an artwork with so many component pieces took weeks,” said Caivano. “It evolved as I responded to the physical features of the gallery. During that time, I came to appreciate what a wonderful resource the Westfield Athenaeum is for its community.”
She continued, “To have my artwork front and center at the entrance of the building, in the Jasper Rand Gallery, allows for audiences who might otherwise not see my work to happen upon it. Creating a site-specific installation in a public space is so very different from working alone in one’s studio, [but] both are rewarding.”
McLain said when people first walk into the gallery, they are overwhelmed by the sight of hundreds of doilies covering the walls. After the initial impact, they are drawn into the work and begin to notice the variety of designs that women created when making these doilies.
“The intricate designs are amazing, both in their complexity and their beauty, and you are instantly aware of the creative genius of all these women who have gone unrecognized,” McLain said. “This is an installation that can be appreciated for its effect as an artwork, and at the same time makes an important statement about women’s history.”
McLain said he hopes this exhibit will shed a fresh light on the creativity of women who worked without any formal recognition, and inspire people to think more closely about women’s experiences in the past, how their creative work often continues to go unnoticed and unappreciated, and how they are often paid much less than men for the same work.
The Athenaeum is open Mondays through Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., at 6 Elm St. in downtown Westfield.