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Antigravity: True Gravity by She Bends

From March 27, 2026 to March 10, 2027

Location: Museum Entryway (Floor 1)

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Neon artists Meryl Pataky and Kelsey Issel bend glass to its limits in this year’s edition of The Rockwell Museum’s Antigravity installation. A site-specific work of art created for the Museum’s rotunda, Pataky and Issel, founders of the neon workers collective, She Bends, True Gravity references textiles and investigates the idea of “true gravity:” a condition in which the body yields to what the material and the environment already intend. Working within tensions of hard and soft, control and happenstance, and isolation and interdependence, Pataky and Issel’s sculptural neon invites the viewer to rethink the potential of glass and light.

Celebrating emerging artists, Antigravity, now in its eighth year, seeks to upend visitors’ expectations with original, thought-provoking work in an unexpected location. As the first work of art viewers encounter as they enter the building, Antigravity is fun, unexpected, and engaging. In celebration of America 250, True Gravity is the Rockwell Museum’s contribution to Handwork: Celebrating American Craft 2026. Handwork is a nationwide, year-long initiative honoring the handmade as part of the U.S. Semiquincentennial. Led by Craft in America, the yearlong celebration brings together makers, museums, and organizations to showcase the craft traditions that define and connect America.

Members-Only: Antigravity Opening Reception

Suspended Neon Installation “True Gravity” Records a New Way of Teaching Craft Skills

Hear more from the artist, Kelsey Issel, on Substack!