“Soft Structures: The Female Body as Labor and Resistance” @ SJMQT

October 1, 2026 – January 10, 2027
Opening Reception: October 2, 2026, 6pm
San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles
520 S 1st St, San Jose, CA 95113
https://sj-mqt.org/

curated by Anna Snyder
with Renata Blanco Gorbea and Zachary Fernandez

Soft Structures: The Female Body as Labor and Resistance presents an array of intergenerational textiles—from traditional quilts to weavings, garments, sculpture, mixed media works, and quilted paintings—all exploring the relationships between the female body, labor, and resistance.

The title, Soft Structures, refers to the delicate, malleable, and systemic qualities of textiles, as well as the interplay between the societally perceived softness of femininity and the deeper strength and tenacity necessary to challenge gender inequalities. As female labor continues to be undervalued and patriarchal ideals remain woven into the lives of every woman, this exhibition examines how gendered experiences shape artwork and identity.

Historically, “women’s work” has been associated with function, art created to be overlooked. The domestic functionality of women’s work made it invisible and immediately consumable in the everyday. The term itself became a tool to devalue women’s labor and creativity while also restricting them to their homes. Women expanded beyond pure functionality when creating crazy quilts in the late nineteenth century; these quilts acted as artistic avenues to document valued experiences and memories. Soft Structures honors the work of women both in and outside of functional uses, while also accentuating how modern artists have built upon the expansive history of women’s work. Contemporary fine artists reflect on the lives through mediums taught to them by generations before. Kayla Dantz utilizes traditional weaving connections, Sydney Kleinrock quilts canvas fabric, turning a historic practice into a channel for detailed oil paintings, and Maddie Duda directly includes family heirlooms—dolls, doilies, and photographs integrated throughout her nostalgic work.

Soft Structures tells the stories of real women through textile craft, from crazy quilts to knitting with VHS tape, we get a glimpse of their relationship with materials, labor (domestic, professional, artistic), the female body, and their personal stories. We highlight and celebrate the experiences of women as fine artists and the labor they undertake in all facets of life.