Gallery 2
Threaded Realities:from skin to space
6 May - 17 May 2026
Opening night
8 May Friday night | 6 - 8 pm
Artist talk and catwalk
16 May Saturday 1 - 3pm
Gallery Hours:
Wednesday – Sunday: 10 am – 5 pm (please note last day of exhibition ends at 3pm)
Exhibition Statement
A sensory exhibition of sculptural fibre and couture, exploring how material shapes body and space. Threaded Realities :From skin to space brings together Melbourne base Fibre artist Kasia Dudkiewicz (Knotted by Hand ) and slow fashion designer Lea Oldjohn(Corde Couture) in an immersive exploration of material, memory and embodied design .
Lea Oldjohn
Artist Statement
Threaded Realities: From Skin to Space brings together Melbourne/Naarm-based fibre artist Kasia Dudkiewicz (Knotted by Hand) and slow fashion designer Lea Oldjohn (Corde Couture) in an immersive exploration of material, body and space.
Working across sculptural textile installation and couture garment design, both artists share a deep commitment to fibre as a structural and emotional medium. Through knotting, wrapping, draping and shaping by hand, the exhibition reveals how soft materials can carry tension, resilience and transformation.
Kasia’s fibre works are created to live within interior environments, responding to architecture, light and movement. These sculptural pieces shift throughout the day, casting shadows, absorbing atmosphere and becoming focal points within their environments. Lea’s garments echo this spatial sensibility, constructed as wearable forms that hold volume and presence, like architecture for the body.
Artist Biography
Lea Oldjohn is the founder of Melbourne-based label Corde Couture, working from her studio on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria. With over three decades of experience in the fashion industry, her practice reflects a considered shift toward slower, process-driven making.
Working primarily with recycled rope, Oldjohn creates sculptural, hand-knotted garments that sit at the intersection of fashion and contemporary art. Each piece is developed through a meticulous and labour-intensive process, informed by years of experimentation and a deep understanding of material and form.
Her work is characterised by precision, restraint, and sensitivity to tension, where repetition becomes both a technical framework and a meditative discipline. Through Corde Couture, Oldjohn explores sustainability not only through material selection, but through a commitment to time, craftsmanship, and longevity.
Kasia Dudkiewicz
Artist Statement
Threaded Realities: From Skin to Space brings together Melbourne/Naarm-based fibre artist Kasia Dudkiewicz (Knotted by Hand) and slow fashion designer Lea Oldjohn (Corde Couture) in an immersive exploration of material, body and space.
Working across sculptural textile installation and couture garment design, both artists share a deep commitment to fibre as a structural and emotional medium. Through knotting, wrapping, draping and shaping by hand, the exhibition reveals how soft materials can carry tension, resilience and transformation.
Kasia’s fibre works are created to live within interior environments, responding to architecture, light and movement. These sculptural pieces shift throughout the day, casting shadows, absorbing atmosphere and becoming focal points within their environments. Lea’s garments echo this spatial sensibility, constructed as wearable forms that hold volume and presence, like architecture for the body.
Artist Biography
Kasia Dudkiewicz is a Polish born, Australia based fibre artist creating contemporary textile wall art and sculptural fibre artworks for collectors, interior designers, and thoughtfully designed spaces. Her practice began as a quiet, intuitive response to personal transformation—driven by the need to slow down, to untangle, and to feel. What started as knotting cord became a form of meditation and meaning-making: a way to give shape to the unseen. Today, that same instinct continues to guide her process.
Kasia works almost exclusively with natural fibres such as cotton, wool, and jute. Each piece is made entirely by hand, using techniques like knotting, looping and layering to create works that feel both grounded and alive. Her pieces often explore tension and softness, structure and surrender—holding emotional contrast in physical form. Her work is as much about process as it is about outcome. Repetition becomes rhythm. Texture becomes language. And fibre becomes a conduit for connection—between artist and viewer, space and self, stillness and feeling.
Working from her home studio in regional Victoria, Kasia has exhibited in both solo and group shows and her work is held in private collections across Australia and Europe. She creates for interiors, collectors, and curated spaces, with a practice that blends material sensitivity, emotional resonance, and quiet strength.
