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From the artist
My creative practice is grounded in fashion and objects I have collected and cherished since childhood. I have a long history of holding on to things. In this exhibition I call Everywhen, I dream of a realm where past, present, and future exist in harmony. Drawing upon themes from gothic architecture, aboriginal art, and personal history, memory, loss, grief, and growth, I reinterpret the gallery space as a microcosm containing the invisible, ephemeral, and eternal fragments that assemble a lifetime—which, like a Russian doll, contains many lifetimes. 

The three garment-based works belong to a series entitled Intimates, begun in 2015 when I collected worn undergarments from friends, family, and strangers to create fiber assemblages, including Intimates III (2015). Two new additions to the series, A Woman is a Window (2026) and Rocks and Water (2026) employ the same materials, this time constructed with undergarments I designed, made, and wore during the years since.

In recent years I have been nourishing my interest in scent through the study of perfumery. Tears in the Rain (2026) is an olfactory experiential sculpture and my first fragrant artwork. Each hand-formed clay petal received daily drops of perfume, a fragrance I formulated as an attempt to remember a sacred loss. Bit by bit the petals were stained with the fragrant memory that will continue to evolve until only a whisper remains. This memory is not a record but an impression; perhaps not a faithful account of what was, but rather what is longed for. You may notice scent notes of mothballs, cedar, wool, cognac, fireplace, macarons de Saint-Émilion, garden roses, horses in the field.

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About the artist
Kailani Mayer is a garment designer and multidisciplinary artist from Taos, New Mexico and the owner of Maman Atelier, a boutique lingerie studio based in Albuquerque, NM. Her work is informed by personal and familial history expressed through objects, photographs, ephemera, and storytelling.

Kailani’s artistic practice is rooted in memory and rituals of preservation. She possesses a reverence for the remnants of time and history imprinted upon our material world and enjoys working with materials that contain their own past. Her artworks are often created from discarded clothing, objects, or domestic artifacts. Her sculpture and installations suggest the spontaneous and elegant arrangements typically overlooked or unwanted by our beautiful yet frenetic and unrelenting world.

Kailani’s lingerie design studio, Maman Atelier, was built upon a vision and aesthetic foundation born from the style, mood, and joie de vivre suggested in family photographs of her French grandmother Nicole—or “Maman" (French for ‘Mother’) as her father affectionally called her. Kailani’s design sensibilities are guided by her love for and connection to nature and animals. She sources the highest-quality fabrics made from organic cotton, hemp, and other natural or sustainable fibers which bring her designs to life.

 

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I Love You, Mom

with H+H Arts

July-August

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