Originally from Mexico City, Texas-based Gabriel Dawe primarily uses thread as a means of creating fantastical installations. Combining fashion and architecture, his vibrant threaded works (covered here) exhibit a certain strength and delicacy. Dawe’s ongoing series of sculptures play with textiles on a much smaller scale. Instead of large spaces, in “End of Childhood”, Dawe binds a child’s toys such as metal cars and plastic animals like elephants, horses, and dinosaurs. Some are clustered together into bizarre, almost unrecognizable positions. Unlike the vivid gradients in his installation work, these sculptures feature more abrupt color blocking. When childhood ends, it too can feel sudden and abrupt. Many of us believe that children should not have any worries and should not have to work; life should be happy and trouble-free. This puts them at a greater need for security, especially during the transition into adulthood. For Dawe, thread, as in clothing, serves to shelter the body, and his manner of wrapping toys may also represent their much needed protection.
The figurative sculptures of