Portrait photo by Leah Huang
Bio
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Rose Malenfant is a multidisciplinary artist, designer, educator and curator from New York, based in Brooklyn. Her sculptural practice is material and process oriented, centered in cycles of the body and environment. Rose uses a variety of techniques and materials including nylon pantyhose, bioplastic, silicone, gravity and time.
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Rose is an artist in residence of the Textile Art Center AIR cycle 16 (Fall 2024). Her work has been exhibited by galleries throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens including El Barrio Art Space, Atlantic Gallery, and the Factory LIC. She has received awards from The Art Students League of New York and the International Society of Experimental Artists. Rose continues to invest in her practice with the Textile Study Group of New York and The Alternative Art School.
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Rose was a recipient of Beam Center’s Artist in Residency Program on Governors Island, New York 2022 where she where she continues to work as a project designer mentoring young artists through hands on collaborative projects.
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Rose is curating upcoming exhibitions "Semi-Permeable" at Living Skin, Brooklyn, New York and "Propagation- Suspended Roots" at Studio 9D New York, New York.
Artist Statement
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I’m fascinated with the juxtaposition of natural and synthetic that surrounds us. Through fleshy installations made of pantyhose, bioplastic, and silicone, I examine both matter changing overtime, and artificially preserved.
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The body learns and heals through repetition. Ive found, my practice is often centered in ritual, that either returns me to rhythms of my own body, or draws my attention to blocks.
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Through my work I use materials to examine relationships between my internal and external environments. By physically transforming matter, I imagine reclaiming the body from the inside out. Creating sculptures of minute sensations allows me to counter conditioning that’s trained us to discard the wisdom of our bodies.
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Through bodily activations, I often invite elements of gravity, presence, or absence to become collaborators in my process. It is through this exchange I can materially invite myself and others to peer into our bodies with a sense of curiosity and admiration.