Kenise Barnes Fine Art is pleased to announce Assemble (Cut, Burn, Stitch) with Care, a compelling group exhibition featuring works by Laura Petrovich-Cheney, Tristan Fitch, and Carolyn Millstein. The show invites viewers to explore the transformative power of materiality and process through the lens of three innovative contemporary artists.
Each artist in the exhibition engages with acts of destruction and transformation as metaphors for resilience, memory, and reconstruction. Petrovich-Cheney’s sculptural assemblages repurpose salvaged wood into vibrant geometric compositions. Fitch’s work evokes tactile narratives through surfaces of pit fired porcelain and hand hewn found wood. Millstein’s stitched metal wall pieces weave together personal and collective histories with quiet intensity. The materials carry histories, scars, and stories that unfold across the surfaces of their work.
Assemble (Cut, Burn, Stitch) with Care offers a rich visual dialogue that bridges fine art, craft, and design inviting reflection on the beauty of found materials, the possibility of transformation, and embracing unpredictability.
Petrovich-Cheney is a sculptor whose work explores transformation, resilience, and memory through salvaged wood and quilt-inspired forms. Her work has been widely exhibited including at the Fuller Craft Museum, Boston Children’s Museum, New England Quilt Museum, and Berea College. Her work is held in public collections including Temple University Hospital, MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper, and the James A. Michener Art Museum. The artist participated in several residencies including Haystack Mountain School of Craft, Deer Isle, ME, Assets for Artists/Mass MoCA Artist U Cohort, Center for Emerging Visual Artists New Courtland Fellow, Philadelphia, PA, Society of Arts and Crafts, Artist in Residency, Boston, MA, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT, The Arctic Circle Residency, Svalbard, Norway, and received grants from The Dodge Foundation and Society of Arts and Crafts Innovation. Petrovich-Cheney earned her MFA from Moore College of Art & Design and her MS from Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA. The artist lives and works in MA.
Tristan Fitch is a self-taught painter and sculptor; Fitch’s work is rooted in tactile process and emotional exploration through layered surfaces. The artist is known for building up and erasing layers to reveal texture and history, referencing geology and erosion. In this body of work, titled Smokestacks, clay forms are buried and pit fired with various organic and inorganic materials resulting in smoky surfaces and textures that evoke geological time and emotional depth. The artist lives and works in NY.
Multi-disciplinary artist Carolyn Millstein merges textile traditions with metalwork, transforming rigid material into soft, quilt-like forms. Copper (and other metals), with its warmth and conductivity, becomes a medium of memory and connection. Her process includes hammering, folding, and stitching the metal, creating luminous surfaces that reflect both light and legacy. Millstein’s work has been exhibited at The Washington Art Association, Washington, CT, Visual Arts Center of Richmond, Richmond, VA, Corcoran College of Art + Design, Washington, DC, Smithsonian Craft Show. She earned an AB from Princeton University, and she has studied at Corcoran College of Art + Design, Washington, DC, Michael Daniel Metal Design, Long Island City, NY, Brookfield Craft Center, Brookfield, CT. The artist lives and works in New York City and CT.
Please contact Lani Ming Holloway, Associate Director, Lani@kbfa.com, 860 560 3085 with inquiries or to arrange a preview of the exhibition.
Kenise Barnes Fine Art
7 Fulling Lane, Kent, CT 06757
Dates: November 1 – December 21, 2025
Reception: Saturday, November 1, 4 – 6 PM, public invited
Gallery hours: Thursday – Saturday 11:00 – 5:30, Sunday 12:00 – 4:00
