Gotham, the newest (and chicest) Lower East Side dispensary, holds more than the latest and greatest offerings in THC, CBD, and home décor products currently available on the medicinal market.
The store’s second level is also home to its gallery collection. The latest exhibit by artist Stefanie Boyd-Berks is a collection of hand-stitched embroidered 3D pictures titled “Wild Order.” The collection is an abstract representation of the journey on the way to and within parenthood. “Wild Order” premiered at Gotham this past week and they held a reception at the store in Stefanie’s honor.
Stefanie Boyd-Berks, a Rhode Island School of Design-trained artist, originally got her start in painting but moved onto fibers when she realized painting was too messy and stitching was better for her anxiety. The process for Boyd-Berk’s work is arduous, but ultimately rewarding. “I sketch directly on the fabric. So, usually, I start with a yellow or some kind of light-colored pen. And then underneath the embroidery, there is a hot mess of sketches,” Stefanie says. “I’ll move on to, like, a green and then a blue and then a black as I get more confident with what I want to do. I’ll sketch it in yellow and then I’ll move on to, like, a green and then a blue and then a black as I get more confident with what I want to do.”
While the journey to a completed piece can be tedious, Stefanie is grateful to have a medium that can be done on the couch while spending time with her wife and kids—core members of her life that heavily inspired the “Wild Order” collection. “This body of work came to be, well, I think some of it started during this phase while I was trying to get pregnant with my second child,” Stefanie shares. Her wife gave birth to their first child. “A lot of it is just about motherhood and feeling like I need this as a mother. It’s such a large identity but wanting to also connect to my past self and the wildness I felt as a young person.” Stefanie points to a particular piece depicting a brown archway set against a deep golden backdrop; a wilted yet vibrant orange flower hangs from the brown arbor, and the flower’s roots’ source of hydration is a pair of breasts with silver barbells attached to the nipples. “I had my son, I breastfed, my body changed so much. On my 40th birthday, I went to get my nipples pierced as a sort of rejuvenation. My body is different now, but it’s still special. And this represents a lot of that, the changes that happen when you have a kid, but still wanting to feel sexy and young.”
Visit Gotham to see Stefanie Boyd-Berks “Wild Order” collection while time lasts. To learn more about Stefanie, visit her website here.
