Drones On Denim

Natale Adgnot

Recycled denim, tulle, wire, acrylic and enamel on thermoplastic and panel

18 x 24 x 7 inches 

2025

About Material Mergence:
The materials in my newest series are autobiographical and central to this body of work. Building on the new shapes and forms I experimented with in my Bird Brains series, I am combining fibers with textiles and thermoplastic in more organic and open-ended ways.

A metaphor for my yearning to bridge cultural gaps in understanding, these sculptures combines materials that tell my life story. Denim clothing and horse hair represent my childhood in Texas. Cotton muslin – a fashion prototyping staple – is representative of my decade living in Paris and working in couture. The use of sumi ink, kimono silk, and tatami grass is a nod to the three years I spent living in Japan. And finally, the feather-like protrusions and drone-like fins I affix to my sculptures are made of thermoplastic, a versatile and shape-shifting material that represents my current life in New York City where people are free to take many forms.

About Natale Adgnot:
Natale Adgnot is a sculptor and fiber artist who uses mixed media to explore cognitive bias and logical fallacy. Best known for wall sculptures made of painted thermoplastic adhered perpendicularly onto panels, she increasingly incorporates a variety of materials that are emblematic of her personal history into her work.

Adgnot earned a BFA in graphic design in Texas and studied fashion in Paris, eventually becoming a dual American/French citizen. Her experience making garments for haute couture runways led her to focus on sculpture. Later, while living in Japan, she began using thermoplastic (an artist-grade shrink plastic) to work three-dimensionally and has expanded her mediums to include fabrics, horse hair, and other materials that signify all of these places.

She has been featured in solo and two-person exhibitions in the U.S., Canada, and Japan. Group exhibitions include SPRING/BREAK, “Black & White” at BWAC juried by Jenée-Daria Strand of the Brooklyn Museum, and “I was not born alone” at Transmitter. Adgnot is also the owner and director of the seasonal art gallery N/A Project Space and a curator-member of Underdonk gallery. She lives and works in Brooklyn and New Paltz, New York.