THREE STRAND CORD
MA / MFA SHOW

june 1 - june 21, 2026

jules larson

My work spans painting, collage, soft sculpture, sewing, and animation. I approach my work with a mindset of theater and pretend play; the studio is a stage to dress, a wrestling ring to fight in, a doll house to play with. Interchangeable parts and pieces coalesce and rearrange into new configurations. There is an element of violence in my process. I cut, tear, disassemble, and manipulate my materials into a form I find more desirable. I like the destructive elements of my process as much as the reconstruction. Each cut or mark rendering the surface new, unable to go back to how it was.

You will find elements of domestic spaces in my work. The ruffle of a couch skirt, the drape of a curtain, soft pillowy shapes and surfaces. I’m interested in the juxtaposition of soft and hard materials, as well as flat vs three dimensional. Perceived strength against perceived weakness or softness. Yielding vs unyielding. The play of stereotypical macho male bodies against feminine elements of cloth like ruffles.

My work deals with the human form. I’m thinking of the forms I paint both as actors on a stage, and as set dressing. I’m interested in that question, are they actors or props? A human or a cardboard object? The switch from humanization or the anthropomorphic to objectification or dehumanization is something I’ve been grappling with as I watch what’s happening in this current moment globally, which has been seeping into how I think about my work.

Kayfabe is a pro wrestling term that means the portrayal of staged events is seen as being real or true. There is a trust between the wrestlers and their fans that the suspension of disbelief will be upheld. Wrestlers are expected not to break Kayfabe outside the ring, to play up rivalries and blood feuds in interviews, and not break character out in the world. It is an illusion of reality. It’s fake, its farce, but it bleeds into the everyday and can stir up real jealousy and tension between wrestlers. What is reality and what is show and how do they feed into each other? I love a pretend play, spectacle, farce. Something to believe in with all your heart, and at the same time know it’s a lie. A trick.Everyday we put on a costume, physically and mentally. We have stories we tell ourselves about who we are, half of which might not be true, or might not even be our own. The presentation of gender, clothes we are and are not allowed to wear according to the myths of gender that society upholds. Ways of behavior that are or are not acceptable according to your assigned role. As a society leans more authoritative, the margin for what is acceptable presentation of gender narrows and tightens. We are seen as less human, we become a stereotype to be upheld.