Sonia Gomes: Ó Abre Alas!

This exhibition showcases the evocative sculptural practice of Sonia Gomes (b. 1948, Minas Gerais, Brazil), who weaves together found objects, textiles, wood, wire, and thread to create richly textured assemblages. Her work invokes Afro-Brazilian traditions and personal narrative to explore resilience, transformation, and the beauty embedded within everyday materials. Across the galleries, a selection spanning her career highlights her intimate approach—stitching, binding, and weaving gifted and discarded materials into forms laden with cultural and personal meaning. On Museum Hill, Gomes presents her first-ever outdoor installation in the United States: Ó Abre Alas!, a vibrant, rhythmically charged sculpture fabricated from paracord, fishing nets, and nautical ropes suspended from tree branches. The work echoes Carnival’s celebratory “lead float” (abre-alas) and evokes the spirit of communal creativity and transformation. Gomes describes her work as having “a conversation with nature,” where the setting itself becomes an active participant, the materials embodying the histories they carry. Organized by Nora Lawrence (Executive Director, Storm King Art Center), Independent Curator Larry Ossei-Mensah, and Assistant Curator Adela Goldsmith, the exhibition runs May 7 through November 10, 2025, at Storm King Art Center, 1 Museum Rd, New Windsor, NY.