Federica Patera and Andrea Sbra Perego Transform Language Into Textile at Scavolini SoHo Gallery for New York Textile Month
Scavolini SoHo Gallery presents The Way Words Turn, a site-responsive exhibition-event by Italian artist duo Federica Patera and Andrea Sbra Perego, presented in conjunction with New York Textile Month. On view September 17 through October 13, 2026, at 429 West Broadway in SoHo, the project brings together a selection of works from the artists’ ongoing Roots series, conceived specifically for the Scavolini showroom and developed in direct response to its architecture, surfaces, materials, and points of visibility.
The Roots series takes verbal roots — the smallest meaningful units of language — as its primary material. Inspired by philosopher and essayist Elémire Zolla’s text “Language and Cosmogony,” which meditates on the story of Creation as told through the evolution of languages ancient and modern, Patera and Sbra Perego treat each verbal root as a cosmogony in miniature: a container of stories that exceeds historical time and geographical location. Through slow, manual processes of shaping, wrapping, and covering using high-performance technical fabrics supplied by Italian textile manufacturer Carvico S.p.A., the artists transform words into sculptural and textile forms. The act of making becomes an exercise in endurance and attention: each word gradually detaches from its immediate meaning and returns to a more open, fluid, and unstable state. Language becomes material; writing becomes presence; text enters space. Within the Scavolini showroom, the works create an unexpected dialogue between contemporary textile practice, Italian design heritage, and the domestic imagination — a space where words are no longer simply read but physically encountered as forms, surfaces, and presences.
Federica Patera and Andrea Sbra Perego are an Italian artist duo based in Brooklyn, New York, who began their collaborative practice in 2017. Federica brings a background in literature and publishing; Andrea in street art and painting. Together they work across textile and text-based installation, wall-mounted works, sculptural objects, sound-integrated environments, and immersive installations, consistently returning to language and writing as porous, living systems. Their work has been exhibited internationally, including at ArtVerona, the Museo del Tessile di Busto Arsizio, and through ongoing collaborations with institutions and textile manufacturers across Europe and North America. They are represented on Artsy and 1stDibs, and are gallery artists with Ivy Jeanne Brown Gallery.
By siting a textile and language-based practice inside an Italian design showroom, The Way Words Turn proposes that the domestic space is never merely functional — it is always already a space where meanings accumulate, shift, and refuse to stay still.
Show: The Way Words Turn
Artists: Federica Patera and Andrea Sbra Perego
On View: September 17 – October 13, 2026
Presented as part of: New York Textile Month 2026
Venue: Scavolini SoHo Gallery, 429 West Broadway, New York, NY 10012
Hours: Monday – Friday, 9 AM – 6 PM; Saturday, 11 AM – 5 PM; Sunday, Closed
Admission: Free
Gallery website: thecampgallery.com
Venue website: scavolini.com/us/flagship-soho
Artist website: pateraperego.com
Artist Instagram: @pateraperego_studio
Gallery Instagram: @thecampgallery
Textile partner: Carvico S.p.A.
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