This summer, Birdhouse gathers sixteen artists at Working Loose—a gallery, shop, and event space in Maine—to explore the birdhouse as both object and idea. At once humble and symbolic, the birdhouse is a form that quietly carries deep associations: with shelter, transience, care, labor, and the desire to build something for another. The exhibition features works by Jenny Brillhart, Susan Cianciolo, F. Taylor Colantonio, Madeline Donahue, Richard Keen, Jeff Kinkle, Minjae Kim, Savannah Knoop, Ficus Interfaith, Lauren Luloff, Eamon Monaghan, Estefania Puerta, Jonathan Rajewski, Jay Stern, Katie Stout, Ty Williams, and Olivia Vigo.
The sculptural works on view use the birdhouse as a point of departure—some in direct, functional form, others more abstract in approach. Across materials and sensibilities, the artists consider how to make room: for others, for nature, for stories, or simply for beauty. In this way, Birdhouse becomes a meditation on impermanence and offerings.
Organized in collaboration with Nina Johnson Gallery, the exhibition features artists including Susan Cianciolo, whose works often draw on domestic ritual and reuse; Katie Stout, whose bold, tactile furnishings infuse functional forms with play and excess; Ficus Interfaith, a collaborative duo working with terrazzo, natural materials, and sacred geometries; and Minjae Kim, whose hand-built furniture and sculpture reflect a subtle dialogue between architecture and memory. Cianciolo, Stout, and Madeliene Donahue—whose practice often centers the domestic and the personal—each have meaningful ties to Maine, grounding the show in a sense of place.
Installed at Working Loose, Birdhouse is shaped in conversation with its site—not just its architecture, but its atmosphere, its rhythms, and its role as a gathering space. It’s not a didactic show, nor a grand statement, but rather an open field of gestures—temporary structures built with care and imagination, inviting viewers to look closely and linger.
What does it mean to build something meant to be left behind? What forms of attention and tenderness live in that act? Birdhouse doesn’t offer answers so much as a space to dwell in the question.
ABOUT WORKING LOOSE
Working Loose is a concept shop, event space and multidisciplinary art gallery playing at the intersection of commerce and creativity. Lauded for its diverse offerings and engaging programming, Working Loose is entering its second season with eager anticipation locally and beyond.
