ABOUT THE EXHIBIT

The show you see here is part of a larger, ongoing series conceived by Cat Alden, a sculptor  who works in a variety of materials including paper, steel, organza, and found objects. 

In the 1990’s, while living in the industrial neighborhood of West Berkeley, Alden began collecting work gloves, picking them up off the street, often rain-soaked and frayed.  As her collection grew, she used them in assemblages or modified them with various media to create new forms. Sometimes, she simply presented them on their own, focusing on the unique qualities of these orphaned objects. 

In 2023, Alden teamed up with photographer Michael Woolsey to present a number of these remarkable gloves as individual photographic portraits, honoring the men and women whose labors produced them. Woolsey’s camera has captured in stunning detail the worn fingertips, tattered stitching and duct-taped repairs that give them meaning and emotional presence far beyond that of everyday apparel.

This exhibit also includes photographs and wall sculptures of more recently acquired gloves,  passed on to Alden by contemporary stone masons, gardeners, foundry workers, and mechanics--letting us appreciate them in a new way.