CONTEMPORARY art gallery IN BEACON, NY

Distortion Society is pleased to present Beg to be Loved, Beg to be Touched, an experience of soft sculpture installations from textile artist Holly McCabe, curated by Jaime Ransome. McCabe works with vintage cloth and contrast topstitching to create viscerally and compassionately manipulated wall-mounted soft sculptures. Each work is meticulously crafted from vintage materials, discarded and donated, then revived in McCabe’s studio. Scraps of cotton, wool, polyester and faux leather have been salvaged by the artist and pieced together into something deserving of love, attention, and care. Every seam is a scar repaired through time and care between McCabe’s thoughtful fingers.

These variable, modular installations are created and installed through an intuitive process of physical manipulation: bending, tearing, patching, and stretching each fabric to reflect and adhere to the properties of the next. Enriched by punk DIY values and informed by her digital and studio arts education, McCabe’s work embodies the raw emergence of self that comes from processing chaos, rebellion, self-care, and cathartic self-expression. 

Within each installation lives a duality of feminine experience: fragility, experimentation, and resilience—like girlhood itself. But also matured, weathered, and finally at peace—like womanhood. Each work is variable, moveable, touchable, and tactile; made up of surfaces that have been cut, torn, and rebuilt stronger and softer. The fabrics incorporated are both precious and ordinary: pieces that have been worn to weddings, parties, road trips, breakups, to work and back. Dripping tendril threads, seamed in contrast stitching, in tones and shadows of red, blue, green, and beige define the McCabe aesthetic - weaving together an ecosystem of works that are both aesthetic and emotional. The final works are products of —the last remnants of—a life well explored. 

Begging to be touched. Begging to be held. Begging to be repaired. Begging to be loved.

Read more to learn about the artist and curator

EXHIBITION DETAILS

Beg to be Loved, Beg to be Touched will be on view at Distortion Society, 155 Main Street, Beacon, NY from July 11, 2026 through October 3, 2026. The gallery is free and open to the public. There will be an opening reception on July 11, 2026 from 7 - 9pm. 

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