Population density increases and yet our lives become more and more sterile. Seamless, Amazon, camboys. Through digital-only interactions, we have conditioned ourselves to go days without human contact.

A first kiss. Caught in the act, their lips barely touching. Based on characters from Dante’s The Divine Comedy, Paolo and Francesca’s passion grows as they read a romantic fairy tale together. Rodin’s The Kiss was so scandalous in its time it was hidden away. Passion, desire, even eroticism show through roughly carved marble; a sculpture able to convey interactions between two humans so thoroughly between human and object alone.

Contemporary craft shows us something different. Elizabeth Englander, Greg o, Elizabeth Jaeger, Aidan Alexis Koch, Lee Maida, Sophia Narrett, Anna Sagström, and Diamond Stingily provide a new kind of dexterity to sculpture. The deep loneliness cultivated by digital culture arguably has enhanced our desire to seek comfort in objects that remind us of sensuality. While not as epic as carving a chunk of marble, there is a sweet honesty to hair weaves with heart clips, painstakingly detailed embroidery, broken compasses, illustrated banners, papier- mâché. Allusions to love may have become more subtle but are no less deeply felt.

Is it romance that has changed, or craft?

it started with a rose was curated by Cecilia Salama (b.1990, London, ENG). Cecilia lives and works in New York, NY and received her BA from Brown University, Providence, RI in 2012. Her recent solo shows include domain/ domain at The Java Projects, Brooklyn, NY, 2015; Cecilia Salama at Art Baby Gallery (online) 2015; Universal Pavilions at So What Space, Brooklyn, NY, 2013. Her recent group shows include Daps at Platform Gallery, Baltimore, MD, 2015; art+crush at Platform Gallery, Baltimore, MD, 2015; The Lorax Poems at Good Work Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, 2015.

Elizabeth Englander (b. 1988) lives and works in New York, NY. She will receive her MFA from Hunter College, NY in 2018. Her recent group shows include Under the Volcano at LOMEX Gallery, New York, NY, 2016; Back Seat Driver at Interstate Projects, Brooklyn, NY, 2016; GEST’S CANDLE at Kimberly-Klark, Queens, NY, 2016.

Greg Ito (b.1987, Los Angeles, CA) lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. He received his BFA from San Francisco Art Institute in 2008. His recent solo or two person shows include SOOTHSAYER (solo) at Steve Turner, Los Angeles, CA, 2016; THE ORDER OF SHADOWBOXING at At El, San Francisco, CA, 2015; AFTER GRUEN at S-A-D-E, Los Angeles CA, 2015. His recent group shows include Summer Fling: The Barn Show at Johannes Vogt, East Hampton, NY, 2016; Lauren Elder, Greg Ito, Kara Joslyn at SPF15, San Diego, CA, 2016; Over and Under at MON CHÉRI, Brussels, Belgium, 2016. He has received the Loop Arts Award, Oakland CA, 2013; Truesilver Residency, San Francisco, CA, 2013; SECA Honorary Committee Member, San Francisco, CA, 2011.

Elizabeth Jaeger (b.1988, San Francisco, CA) lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. She received her BA from Lewis and Clark College, Portland, OR in 2011. Her recent solo and two person shows include Elizabeth Jaeger at And Now, Dallas, TX, 2015; Six-Thirty at Jack Hanley Gallery, New York, NY, 2014; Music Stand at Eli Ping, New York, NY, 2013. Her recent group exhibitions include Too Much of a Good Thing at Hudson Basilica, Hudson, NY, 2016; Summer Reading at Fortnight Institute, New York, NY, 2016; Cool Memories at Occidental Temporary, Viellejuif, France, 2016.

Aidan Koch (b.1988 Seattle, WA) lives and works in New York, NY. She received her BFA from Pacific NW College of Art, Portland, OR in 2009. Her recent solo shows include The Midnight Room at Open Space, Baltimore, MD, 2016; The Sleeper at Weekends, London, UK, 2016; Mood Board at Mission Comics, San Francisco, CA, 2014. Her recent group shows include Elizabeth Jaeger, Ann Greene Kelly, Aidan Koch at And Now, Dallas TX, 2015; The Air is An Absence Held at Ray Smith Studio, Brooklyn, NY, 2015; Biennial of Graphic Arts in Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2015. She has done residencies at Maison des Auteurs, Angouleme, FR in 2014; Epicenter, Green River, UT in 2012; Skylab, Columbus, OH in 2012. She has received The Xeric Grant, 2012; Finalist, Oregon Book Awards, Literary Arts, 2012; Thesis Award in Illustration, PNCA, 2009; Thesis Exhibition Design Award, PNCA, 2009.

Lee Maida (b. 1983, Bridgeport, CT) lives and works in New York, NY. She received BFA from California College of the Arts and her MFA from the Milton Avery Graduate School of Arts at Bard College. Her recent solo or two person shows include Earth Minutes at Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York, NY, 2014; Profusive Technologies at Ed. Varie, New York, NY, 2012.

Sophia Narrett (b.1987, Concord, MA) lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. She received her MFA in Painting from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2014 and her BA in Visual Arts From Brown University in 2010. Her recent solo shows include Early in the Game at Freight + Volume, New York, NY, 2016; This Meant Nothing at Arts+Leisure, New York, NY, 2015; I Was Dreaming This at Space Gallery, Portland ME, 2013. Her recent group shows include Material Cultures at BRIC House, Brooklyn, NY, 2016; Fourth Wall at Booth Gallery, New York, NY, 2016; Ladies Babies Hades at Collar Works, Troy, NY, 2016. She has done residencies at Museum of Arts and Design Artist Studios Program, New York, NY in 2016-2017; Lux Art Institute, Encinitas, CA in 2016; DNA Gallery, Provincetown, MA in 2015; Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, ME in 2014; Public Art Academy, The Pajama Factory, Williamsport, PA in 2011.

Anna Sagström (b. 1985 in Fagersta, Sweden) lives and works in Berlin and Stockholm. She received her MFA from Konstfack University in Stockholm in 2011 and a BA from Glasgow School of Art in Scotland in 2009. Her recent solo and two person shows have been shown at Garret Grimoire, Vienna; Platform, Stockholm; Et Al Gallery, San Francisco. Recent group shows include Bodyholes for New Scenario at 9th Berlin Biennale; Montpeti at Academy of Fine arts, Vienna; The Garden at Room E-10 27, Paris. Sagström is co-founder and co-curator of the exhibition space Minibar in Stockholm and co-creator of the platform Dull City.

Diamond Stingily (b. 1990, Chicago, IL) lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Her recent solo shows include Elephant Money at Ramiken Crucible, New York, NY, 2016; Kaas at Queer Thoughts, New York, NY, 2015. Her recent group shows include The Ending of Violent Crime at Queer Thoughts, New York, NY, 2015; Denude at Ramiken Crucible, Los Angeles, CA, 2015; It’s A Girl at A1, Chicago, IL, 2015.