In person / Talk / Multiple Techniques
7 WORDS OF HOPE: Love Joy Peace Courage Empathy Compassion Happiness
7 WORDS OF HOPE explores the profound, historically intertwined relationship between textile and text—both acting as potent systems of non-verbal communication that invite deep, individual interpretation.
A decade ago, Mary Jaeger began hand-embroidering seven specific words of hope into her one-of-a-kind accessories. Originally executed as covert gesture, quietly stitched and camouflaged within architectural pleats, each word was an intimate message intended for the wearer to physically embody. In this landmark exhibition for New York Textile Month XI, Jaeger evolves this practice, presenting a wearable collection featuring these seven words inscribed in commanding, lyrical lines, a powerful departure from her previous structural whispers.
Alongside Jaeger’s garments, eight invited contemporary artists present diverse interpretations of these core linguistic pillars across a range of media. Together, the works stand as a radical counter-narrative to our current epoch of mass markets, frenetic consumption, and the expanding anxieties of artificial intelligence. In an era fractured by global discord and political instability, 7 WORDS OF HOPE asserts the critical relevance of the handmade. By internalizing these qualities, both wearer and observer are reminded of their agency to positively influence their own realities, transforming textile art into an essential site of human resilience.
Join us at the Mary Jaeger Atelier on September 6th, for 7 WORDS OF HOPE: ARTIST TALKS, a special exhibition and discussion presented for NYTM Xl. Open from Noon to 5:00 PM, with the central Artist Talks beginning at 2:00 PM, this event explores how handmade textiles, art, text, language, and emotion intertwine and impact our daily lives.
The exhibition features eight invited contemporary artists who will present their diverse interpretations of the 7 WORDS OF HOPE across a range of media, alongside Mary Jaeger. Discover how these timeless concepts are translated into tangible art:
• Love: Ragna Frodadottir (@frodadottir)
• Joy: Jorie Johnson (@joiraetex)
• Peace: David Salama (@dalama0)
• Courage: Dr. Katherine Soucie (@sanssoucie)
• Compassion: Tatiana Ginsberg (@tsgpaper)
• Empathy: Francesca Schwartz (@francescaschwartzstudio)
• Happiness: Erik Bergrin (@erikbergrin / @spiritbody_clothing)
• 7 Words of Hope: Thea Fine
• 7 Words of Hope: Collection: Mary Jaeger (@maryjaeger_ny)
The program at Mary Jaeger Atelier:
Opening Reception: Sunday, September 6
12:00 PM - 5:00 PM Gallery Open
Artist Talks at 2:00 PM
Panel Discussion: Sunday, September 13
12:00 PM - 5:00 PM Gallery Open
Panel Discussion at 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM Learn more here
Closing Reception: Thursday, September 17
12:00 PM - 8:00 PM Gallery Open
5:00 PM - 8:00 PM Closing Reception
Artist Talks at 6:00 PM
Exhibition: Sunday, September 6 - Thursday, September 17
12:00 PM - 5:00 PM Daily, other times by appointment: email mary@maryjaeger.com
No registration required!
Ragna Frodadottir
“My work focuses on the process of making, working with colors and textures, and the history and culture of symbols and patterns in textiles” - Ragna Froda
Creative Director, NYTM & Edelkoort Inc. | Artist & Curator
Ragna Froda is an Icelandic artist, curator and educator with a background in fashion and textile design. With a strong passion for textiles, innovation, and craft, the foundation of her practice is storytelling through hybrid layers of craft and technology. In the past 15 years, she has lived in New York, Berlin and Reykjavik, where she was head of Textiles at Reykjavik School of Visual Arts. She now lives in NYC where she runs her studio practice and works as the director of Edelkoort Inc. and New York Textile Month.
Jorie Johnson
“The history of man includes the history of feltmaking. I like contemporary
feltwork as it offers not only unique fabric design with seamless form, but self-expression and “Viking” protection.” - Jorie Johnson
Kyoto-based Contemporary Felt Artist | Educator & Innovator
Jorie Johnson’s imagination has been totally captured by the capability of wool fiber. With JoiRae Textiles, she continues to explore and create handmade felted woolworks for the body, the home, and the soul. Her works have been collected by the V&A London, MFA Boston and Cooper Hewitt NYC. She travels for research and teaching when the summer winds draw her away from eastern Asia.
David Salama
“I like to push the limits of possibilities in shibori by combining traditional techniques with machine aided innovation” – David Salama
NYC-based Restauranteur l Multi-Disciplinary Artist & Creative
David Salama cultivates a deep interest in all the arts, expanding on his graphic design background from Tyler School of Art & Architecture. A majority of his life has been spent in the decorative arts and culinary arts with him currently running a restaurant in New York City. Recently he’s had the opportunity to return to textile craft and has spent the last four years learning and practicing Katazome, Shibori and indigo dyeing with on-going trips to Japan for workshops with notable masters.
Tatiana Ginsberg
“Studying at one of the oldest dye studios in Kyoto, I learned the art of dyeing paper in brilliant colors for temple festivals, sutra copying, and other uses” - Tatiana Ginsberg
Director of Artistic Projects & Master Collaborator, Dieu Donne Paper Mill l Paper Artist, Writer, Curator & Educator
Tatiana Ginsberg works in handmade paper, creating drawings, books, and installations. She studied at the University of Iowa Center for the Book, received her MFA from the University of California, Santa Barbara and spent two years in Japan researching naturally dyed papers on a Fulbright grant. Ginsberg taught papermaking, printmaking, book arts, and drawing at colleges for more than a decade. Her work combines traditional and contemporary techniques, and focuses on the beauty of everyday things, the infraordinary, and paper as a transmitter of stories.
Katherine Soucie
“My East London-based studio focuses on the creative reuse of UK sock manufacturing waste, building on reuse strategies developed through my doctoral research project, New Geographies of (Re)Making” – Katherine Soucie
London-based Sans Soucie, Founder l Artist, Designer & Researcher
Katherine Soucie specializes in creative textile reuse, manufacturing, and mending as both material practice and critical inquiry. Over 25 years, she has developed a multidisciplinary upcycling practice across textiles, fashion, and visual art. After studying fashion design in London and Toronto, and textiles and visual art in Vancouver, she completed a practice-based PhD in Upcycling and Circular Textiles at Kingston University London. Her work has been exhibited, sold, and commissioned internationally - spanning Canada, the USA, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Australia, and the UK – across private collections, film, television, theatre, and performance contexts.
Francisca Schwartz
“My artwork is informed by a fascination with the materiality and metaphors of the female body” – Francesca Schwartz
NYC-based Psychoanalyst l Mixed Media Artist & Visionary
Francesca Schwartz works in a range of mixed media processes encompassing painting, sculpture, photography, and collage. Her diverse materials include inks, dyes, wax, bone, textiles,and found objects, and most recently fire. Schwartz exhibits in solo and group exhibitions, art fairs, and galleries and her art has been featured in international publications. She has received multiple grants, artist-in-residencies, and awards for her multidimensional and provocative work.
Erik Bergrin
“I see creativity as a spiritual practice – a way of transforming what weighs us down into something that sets us free”- Erik Bergrin
NYC-based Costume & Textile Designer for Film & TV l Artist & Researcher
Erik Bergrin is an interdisciplinary artist and textile specialist whose practice spans sculpture, fiber, costume, film, and material-based research. His work has been featured nationally and internationally in solo and group exhibitions at galleries, museums, film festivals, theatres and on television, and has appeared in numerous publications, including Dazed and Confused, The New York Times and L’Officiel. Bergin’s independent clothing line, Spirit Body, is available on his website and at select
stores nationwide.
Thea Fine
“Working with both hands and head has been my signature throughout my life, from crafting speeches and policy documents to creating jewelry in a second career as a bead weaver to making beaded “statement pins” and more in my so-called “retirement”” - Thea Fine
Metro DC-based Lapsed Healthcare Policy Wonk l Beadweaver & Creative
Thea Fine is a former political policy “wonk” and beadwork artist who spends her retirement creating beaded statements—both political and otherwise—as pins and clothing adornments. Though she learned beadweaving as a child from her grandmother, Rose, Fine set aside the craft for decades, only recently returning to it as a counterbalance to the frenetic pace of life on the edge of national politics. Her pieces, often intended to provoke conversation, have found their way into numerous jewelry collections. While Fine continues to create commissioned work for a dedicated client base, she has also exhibited her collections at nationally juried craft shows, galleries, and boutiques.
Mary Jaeger
“The core of my textile work is inspired by my passion for handmade and handcrafted details, twisting colors, textiles and patterns in unorthodox ways” –Mary Jaeger
NYC-based Contemporary Textile Accessory Designer I Artist & Innovator
Mary Jaeger’s work explores the intersection of modern elegance and rich tradition. Her aesthetic is defined by uncluttered textiles and accessories that seamlessly meld ancient Eastern sensibilities with contemporary Western design. Drawing on years of study and work across Japan and other areas of Asia, Southeast Asia, and Europe, Jaeger creates timeless collections for fashion and interiors that transition effortlessly between seasons, settings, and occasions. Her work is exhibited nationally and internationally, and can be experienced firsthand at her atelier in Brooklyn, NY.
Located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the Mary Jaeger Atelier is a creative studio and retail space where innovative textile designs move from conception to production. Focused on sustainability and circularity, the atelier produces one-of-a-kind and limited-edition clothing, accessories, and interior objects. Mary’s collections utilize natural fibers, shaped-resist dyeing (shibori), and three-dimensional fabric manipulation, often reimagining vintage and post-production materials. Beyond production, the atelier serves as a vibrant community hub for the textile arts, hosting hands-on workshops, international exhibitions, and panel discussions that teach new skills, explore the value of handmade work, and foster camaraderie among makers and clients.