This event is part of a series – see below for details.October 25, 2025 10:00 a.m.
Nothing Follows its Spontaneous Course Exhibition
Event Details
Nothing Follows its Spontaneous Course Exhibition
On view in the gallery at the WaterFire Arts Center
Friday, October 24 – Sunday, November 9, 2025
Opening Reception: Friday, October 24, 5:00–8:00 p.m.
Nothing Follows its Spontaneous Course, curated by Sihan (Tara) Chen, reimagines the gallery as a series of uncanny domestic spaces. Drawing inspiration from the systems that shape everyday life, the exhibition examines how machines, automation, and industrial materiality have redefined the idea of “home.”
From absurdist functional objects to installations that blur the line between comfort and estrangement, the works invite viewers to reflect on the paradoxes of contemporary domesticity.
Featured artists: Xinchun (Selina) Xie, Meri Sanders, Olivia Moon, Eun Yong Lee, Axel Anderson, Ankita Bhat, Isa Makielski, and Sihan (Tara) Chen.
PROGRAMS & EVENTS
Exhibition Open: Friday, October 24 – Sunday, November 9, 2025 (see WaterFire Arts Center gallery hours below)
Opening Reception, including Curator + Artist Insights: Friday, October 24, 5:00–8:00 p.m.
The WaterFire Arts Center gallery hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Thursday until 9:00 p.m. Admission is free and open to all; donations are encouraged.
ARTIST STATEMENTS
Sihan Tara Chen
Sihan Tara Chen is an independent curator and artist from Shenzhen, China, and currently based in Providence, RI. Their artistic practice merges Eastern and Western design aesthetics, while interrogating and rethinking conventional boundaries within furniture design. By creating domestic objects that engage and exert physical influence on the body, Sihan’s works become dynamic entities of their environments. Their curatorial practice is rooted in designing experiences that invite reflection and conversation.
sihanchen.cargo.site
@sihhannnn
Isa Makielski
Isa Makielski explores intangible aspects of the self through an intuitive design process. Working to create an introspective relationship with herself and her work, she creates dialogue between form and function through a multidisciplinary practice.
isamakielski.com
@isa_maki | @makielski.studio
Axel Anderson
Axel Anderson works primarily in acrylics, experimenting with oils and unconventional techniques to create textured, non-representational pieces that invite emotion and curiosity. Influenced by Willem de Kooning and his father, who taught Axel to paint, his work is a personal outlet, translating
thoughts and emotions into physical form. Axel aims to create art that resonates with viewers on an intuitive level, offering space for their own interpretations.
Ankita Bhat
Ankita Bhat is a Singaporean-Indian designer whose work explores the beauty of cultural diaspora and intergenerational experience, drawing motifs and rituals from her maternal history and lineage to invite those who view her work to slow down, ask questions, and share a private experience with her through her objects. She takes the time to critically investigate her past through her writing practice while engaging in deep material research to come up with linguistic considerations for her work as well as the development of colors, stains, and composites. Currently, Ankita is working towards a BFA’26 in Furniture Design at the Rhode Island School of Design.
Eun Yong Lee
Eun’s work centers on bringing narratives into the world. He is interested in the relationships forms establish with one another and with the body, focusing on how these intertwine with personal experiences, myths, and stories to generate narratives. By revealing narratives, he attempts to offer a shared space of thoughts where people can dwell together anew.
Olivia Moon
Olivia Moon is a sculptor exploring the relationship between nature and nurture, parasitic bonds, and out of body experiences through a blend of paintings and structural work. Olivia seeks continuity, an invitation for interaction and reflection, to honor time and place and to evoke the quiet presence of objects in our lives.
Meri Sanders
Meri Sanders, an interdisciplinary maker from the San Francisco Bay Area with a focus on textiles. Reflecting on their relationship to the world from a young age, their work aims to bring people into spaces rooted in whimsy and care. Meri is interested in how textile practices among others can lend
themselves to being teaching tools and how collected data and stories can be translated into new forms.
merisanders.cargo.site
@meredithsanderss
Xinchun Xie
Xinchun ( Selina) Xie is a multidisciplinary designer who aims to transform functional objects into mediums for exploring human emotions, relationships, and societal constructs. Each piece invites viewers to engage with deeper questions about life, culture, and existence. She works to refine furniture as a bridge between art, thought, and material innovation. Xinchun’s current exploration examines the hospital’s role as both a place of healing and an instrument of depersonalization, these works invites viewers to reflect on how technology mediates our understanding of the body and its connection to individuality and care.
Organizer
