Bound Together

Heartbreaker
Teri Carson, 2025, installation: natural and synthetic fibers, paint, 13 x 11 x 8 feet

An exhibition in the Art on Sedgwick Gallery featuring Teri Carson, Hannah Dykstra and Consuela Johnson
curated by Kiki McGrath

Bound Together presents the work of three local artists—Teri Carson, Hannah Dykstra, and Consuela Johnson—who have lived, worked, and practiced their craft on Chicago's Near North Side. Their installations and paintings demonstrate how contemporary art can serve as both mirror and catalyst for community building.

Teri Carson's installation, Heartbreaker, is made from natural and synthetic fibers and paint. Ranging in color from pale pink to blood red, the cascades of looped yarn form a dense structure of overlapping forms referencing woven nets, vessels, or internal viscera. This site-responsive work utilizes crocheting to invoke gendered grief in secret domestic spaces, where the private realm of mourning finds public expression through material investigation and performative making. A contemplative examination of loss, resilience, and the radical potential of traditional craft, Carson’s work suggests that through the slow and meditative practice of making we construct not only objects but communities of care and solidarity.

Hannah Dykstra's initial encounter with Edgar Miller's handmade homes crystallized her understanding of what it means to "live in a work of art." Her in-progress graphic novel, A Total Work of Art, translates Chicago's urban history and her revelatory experiences into digital imagery. Miller's commitment to creating functional and aesthetic public spaces and private homes speaks directly to Dykstra's own approach as a comic book artist working within the democratic medium of graphic narrative. For this show, she collaborated with woodworker Mark Groenewold to create an illuminated screen with carved wooden animal figures directly inspired by Miller’s work and her residency at the Edgar Miller Legacy.

Constance Johnson's artistic vocabulary draws from what she terms "Earthy presence"—the shrines, goddesses, and relationships that have shaped her artistic journey. Working primarily in mixed media, she constructs layered compositions with oil and acrylic paint, yarn, charcoal, and other materials so viewers can both "see and feel the work." This tactile approach transforms her canvases into touchable surfaces that carry carrying emotional weight and personal meaning.  Living in the Marshall Field Garden Apartments and participating in community center programs shaped her intuitive relationship with materials, while her multidisciplinary background—encompassing poetry, music production, and beauty arts—informs her approach to painting as part of a holistic creative practice.