Ryan Art Gallery is proud to present The Motherlode Series, a body of work that merges painting and craft in a striking exploration of materiality, tradition, and feminine labor. Developed over several years and initially conceived during an artist residency at the Castle of Otranto in Italy, the series began with needlepoint designs inspired by the castle’s dramatic shadows. These negative shapes became the foundation for the patterns, while the colors—mixed from dry pigment, gesso, and marble dust—were improvised in the artist’s intuitive style. In this series, the artist, ANDRÉE B. CARTER, integrates her hand-dyed needlepoint directly into punctured canvases, uniting two disciplines historically separated by gendered hierarchies. By fusing these elements, she pays tribute to the women who expressed themselves through craft, while also honoring the lineage of color-making that predates synthetic paint. The Motherlode Series positions both painting and needlepoint on equal footing, challenging traditional boundaries and celebrating the tactile, layered histories they represent.