Bibi - Mimi - Ocean Memo

Bibiana Huang Matheis and Mimi Czajka Graminski

Address: Earth – WaterStory is part of InspirationArt Group International’s 2025 Address: Earth Art Expo, featuring eight exhibitions across multiple locations in the Hudson Valley of New York and Manhattan. Each venue highlights a different ecosystem. Bibi - Mimi Ocean Memo is an installation by artists Bibiana Huang Matheis and Mimi Czajka Graminski shedding light on the fragility of our oceans.

The exhibition is featured in Hyperallergic’s“10 Show to See in Upstate New York”

In WaterStory the artists address the beauty and fragility of our planet’s water. They draw attention to the issue of plastic in our environment (in our waterways and in our bodies) with Bibiana’s window installation consisting of clear single use plastics. Mimi’s colorful textile installation brings us under the water, while Bibiana’s black and white photographs refer to a long view of water forms - ocean waves, glacial formations, human arteries. Mimi has encapsulated small textile sculptures in vitrines – do they refer to ocean creatures, plastic discards, or something else entirely?

Both artists were inspired by the ocean - Mimi created the textile sculptures during a residency in Florida, while Bibiana created work from photographs taken in Hawaii. 

Conveyer/or Gallery

299 Main St., Poughkeepsie, NY

Director and Curator: Suprina Kenney

Artist’s Talk on July 27, 2025 3-5pm

Photographs: courtesy Bibiana Huang Matheis

Textile Installation in a Private Residence 2025

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A solo exhibition at Window on Hudson in Hudson, NY. "Between Shadow and Light"

This work was highlighted as a Featured Project on ArtSpiel

The exhibition was in several events:

The Hudson Eye Festival a city wide Arts Festival sponsored by the Jonah Bokaer Foundation

The exhibition was part of Open Studios Hudson and participated in Two Coats of Paint Hudson Valley Gallery Crawl

Exhibition Statement

I love working with my hands, creating something where there was nothing before. Inspiration comes from nature, found materials and my intuition. I’m interested in the many paradoxes that exist simultaneously in our world - fragility and strength, transparency and opacity, vicissitudes of memory, beauty in flaws. I work in different media, and the work is consistently based in the exploration of light, color, and pattern. I always rely on my instinct and sense of play - allowing my intuition to decide the colors and lead my hands to create the shapes. I am always amazed as certain colors and shapes illicit specific emotions.

I fold, pin, arrange and suspend translucent, yet durable fabrics into abstract shapes that may refer to the natural world. They are pinned to the wall, arranged in containers, or suspended from the ceiling. I use the swathes of fabric like paint colors – mixing and layering them. The textile sculptures seem fragile but are quite sturdy. They create shadows and reflections that sometimes appear more substantial than the actual object. The sculpture lies between the light and creates the shadow. I put them together into groups where the colors, shapes and shadows interact, as light and air movement act upon them.

A whisper, a thought, a tenderness, something just out of reach.

Each of these textile sculptures can fit into the palm of your hand and were shown @smallbanygallery, a miniature gallery founded and curated by Katherine Chwazik who hosts virtual exhibitions. All photographs: Katherine Chwazik

“I am often inspired by materials – the sensuous colors of fabrics, translucent vellum, wispy wool threads. I see my studio as a Iaboratory where I collect disparate specimens, manipulate, combine and transform them.

The delicate fabric is made to define space, shape and volume. Gravity, invisible air, and shadow play as large a role in the work as the physical media. The shadow can often appear more solid than the object. The work appears to be fragile, but actually has an inherent strength.”

“Our greatest strength lies in the gentleness and tenderness of our heart.” Rumi

“The Hammond Museum was delighted to present the work of two dynamic artists who are engaged with transforming nature into art. The virtual exhibition “Landscape Deconstructed: Mimi Czajka Graminski and Linda Stillman” opened on September 11, 2021 on Facebook Live and on Zoom. It is available to view on the Hammond Museum website. The exhibition is curated by Bibiana Huang Matheis “

Please see the Hammond website (link above) for the full exhibition which includes the images pictured along with several other works and videos.

Hudson Valley artists Graminski and Stillman were introduced through a NYFA program and were immediately struck by the connections in their work. They each explore their relationship to the environment with landscape in non-traditional forms. Be it videos of wind in flower petals, daily photos of the sky, drawings of flowers, they each exhibit their intimate observations of their surroundings in their work. This is the first time their work is presented in tandem.

In this virtual exhibition viewers can explore the differences and similarities in their work and delight in seeing a fresh approach to landscape art in diverse disciplines; collage, photography, video, sculpture and painting.

Mimi Czajka Graminski explores materials, light and color through diverse disciplines.

Linda Stillman is a Hudson Valley artist who works in various media, investigating concepts of time, memory and nature. Her website is lindastillman.com.

The virtual opening is a one-hour visual tour of the exhibition and live visit with the artists interviewed by distinguished guest Jennifer McGregor.

Jennifer McGregor is a curator and arts planner who develops strategies to engage non-traditional public spaces, diverse audiences, and innovative artists. She conceived place-based arts programming at Wave Hill, in the Bronx, from 1999 to 2020. There she activated connections to the environment by producing adventurous exhibitions, residencies and performances explore nature, culture and site.

ArtSpiel interview An interview with Jennifer McGregor about the exhibition “Landscape Deconstructed: Mimi Czajka Graminski & Linda Stillman,” at The Hammond Museum and Japanese Stroll Garden. Appeared in February 2022 on the Art Spiel blog curated and edited by Etty Yaniv.

Artists and Climate Change featured this exhibition on their site.

I delicately pin or place translucent textiles into shapes that are abstract though seem to refer to the natural world. They create shadows and reflections that sometime appear more substantial than the actual object. The colors, shapes and shadows interact as light and air movement act upon them.

A whisper, a thought, a tenderness, something just out of reach.

Please see the essay by Frank Matheis “The Delicate Boldness of Mimi Czajka Graminski “ on this and other bodies of work in his series In Other Words

In this body of work Graminski uses wool roving (sheep’s wool that has been cleaned, carded and dyed) translucent fabrics and clear containers.

I am often inspired by materials – the sensuous colors of fabrics, translucent vellum, wispy wool threads, crocheted and handcrafted items. I see my studio as a Iaboratory where I collect disparate specimens and then manipulate and transform them, sometimes contrasting them with unlikely pairings.

The delicate fabric, translucent paper and airy wool are made to define space, shape and volume. Gravity, invisible air, and shadow play as large a role in the work as the physical media. The shadow can often appear more solid than the physical media. The work appears to be fragile, but actually has an inherent strength and speaks to the fluidity of memory and identity.

These qualities speak to the intersection of feminism and femininity- the place where strength and delicacy exist on the same plane.

This work was in His Eyes Were So Blue at Betsy Jacaruso Gallery in Rhinebeck, NY, curated by Betsy Jacaruso as well as other venues.

I often see my studio as a Iaboratory where I collect a variety of materials and then manipulate and transform them, sometimes combining them in unlikely pairings.

I am inspired by these materials – the sensuous colors of wool, translucent mylar (paper), tiny bottles, broken pottery, crocheted yarn and wispy wool roving. Roving is wool that has been shorn from sheep, cleaned, carded, dyed and is ready to be spun into yarn or made into felt. I have taken the wool, stretched it, attached it to mylar and encased it in various containers.

The translucent paper and airy wool are made to define space, shape and volume. They are soft and appear to be fragile, but are actually quite strong. This work is a tribute to the women, past and present, who exhibit these unique qualities.

This installation was created for InView Projects in Danbury, CT, curated by Brian Walters.

Logs and Lace‍ is a series of several outdoor installations created at different venues.

The Fourth Incarnation in the Logs and Lace series was installed (Summer - Fall 2023) at ArtBuoy Kingston, 274 East Strand, Kingston, NY, in association with ArtPort ArtStream

ArtStream Festival curated by Stefan Saffer and Laurie DeChiara and featured in UpstateArt Weekend 2023. UpstateArt Weekend ArtBuoy Project

The third version of this series was in Shelter at Woodstock Byrdclyffe Guild Historic White Pines in Woodstock, NY curated by Melinda Stickney-Gibson.

Shelter at Woodstock Byrdclyffe Guild

The first two versions were in Winter Over? at The Garage in Chatham, NY and at TSL Time Space Limited in Hudson NY, curated by George Spencer.

The series began during Covid when trees felled in a storm provided an abundance of raw material. I use the cut logs and combine them with lace stencils, collected from many sources, to create an installation that honors both the trees and the lace makers. I pay tribute to the lace makers, their labor and the energy they imbued into each stitch.

I created a site wide ephemeral installation for Winnakee Land Trust, in the trees, on land and in water, for their exhibition The Enchanted Forest in their 165 acre land conservancy site, Vlei Marsh Preserve in Rhinebeck, NY. The images are available as archival pigment prints.

The majority of materials in this exhibition at Window on Hudson in Hudson, NY are inspired by and derived from plant-based sources. All of which stem from the process of photosynthesis – creating energy, nourishment and growth from light.

“In my work I am using materials that were all born from this process - logs from trees, (drawings of) leaves from plants, and paper made from cotton and rice. After their growth process and harvest, the materials find renewed life in their cross pollination incorporated into this site-specific installation.”

Czajka Graminski continues, “During these past spring and summer months at home I have found myself drawn to the forests, and with my interest in materials, I have found a huge resource in the natural environment. In my study of leaves (found and cultivated) I have been examining light, shadow and color by using pencil, watercolor and video. I celebrate the differences and commonalities that the leaves all share.

Trees felled in a storm gave me an abundance of raw material. I use the cut logs and combine them with cotton lace, collected from many sources, to create an installation that honors both the trees and the lace makers. I pay tribute to the lace makers, their labor and the energy they imbued into each stitch. I wonder about their lives and under what circumstances did they create this work? Was it a labor of love or necessity? Their lace has outlived them just as the logs will outlast the intricate stenciled patterns on them. I honor the fleeting and enduring quality of both women’s labor and the natural environment.”

These ephemeral installations celebrate delicacy that can simultaneously exist with strength. I use lace collected from many sources, trees felled in recent storms, found objects. I pay tribute to the lace makers, their labor and the energy they imbued into each stitch. I wonder about their lives and under what circumstances did they create this work? Was it a labor of love or necessity? What were their hopes and dreams? Their lace has outlived them just as the logs will outlast the intricate stenciled patterns on them. While the passage of time and the effects of weather gradually erode the images, I honor the fleeting and enduring quality of both women’s labor and the natural environment.

These are available as archival pigment prints.

In this series the work has multiple incarnations where it is changed and adapted to many installations which include exhibitions at Wilderstein Historic Site (2 exhibitions), Hammond Museum, and Unison Art Center. Each time it is exhibited, the configuration is adapted to the specific site and the environment affects and changes the work.

Graminski draws inspiration from nature, combining unusual materials with traditional handcrafts, bringing new meaning to both. In Angle of Repose; Dawn to Dusk, she begins with locust trees, which were felled due to old age, at Wilderstein Historic Site in Rhinebeck, NY. She places the 12 foot logs, so from a distance, they appear to be randomly stacked but are carefully balanced upon each other so the ends face east and west. Upon closer inspection they present an unexpected surprise as their cut ends are covered in gold leaf and crocheted wire which are alternately illuminated by the rising and setting sun. The tree was sourced from and sited at the Wilderstein Historic Site where the exhibition Sculpture in a Romantic Landscape was held, curated by Jennifer Harris.

The individual pieces range in size from 6’’ to 16” in diameter, and are crocheted or knit of various metal wires.

Images 2 and 3 are of an installation in ArtBox Sustainable Communities Program, Red hook, NY.

In this series I use thread as a drawing material by stitching and over stitching on raw linen canvas. The inspiration originates from images I see when I am in that state, between wake and sleep, which I experience as a “picture of a feeling”. In my mind’s eye, I see an image which is usually abstract, and embodies a feeling, idea, person or experience.  My subconscious seeps subtly into my conscious world with a blending of senses to produce an image. They are 10”x10”, cotton, silk and rayon thread on raw linen.

Titles originated in collaboration with poet Sarah Stern and are taken from two of her books: We Have Been Lucky in the Midst of Misfortune and But Today Is Different whichare available from the publishers - Sarah Stern Books

I use crocheted yarn to weave doll clothes together with the memories encapsulated within them. They are all 3’- 5’ wide and 4’ - 6’ tall.

This work began with the discovery of a box of my childhood doll clothes that had survived through the years. The clothes had been well loved and well used showing signs of their age. I used the clothes as a jumping off point and combined them with crocheted yarn highlighting the colors popular in the 1960’s. I wove together the clothes, the crochet, and the childhood memories, in what was an organic process, to create a series that is a tribute to memory, resilience and relationship.

The work transforms memory as well as freezes it in time. It is both trapped and blooming. There is a shift back and forth between happy memory and a memory that catches. The personal emotional charge is transferred from the artist into the work where it organically blossoms outward.  

Penelope Hyde Levine, poet

With this series Graminski commemorates found, ordinary and obsolete materials such as a sponge, steel wool, encyclopedia images, photos of rain on snow, strawberry juice prints on wax paper. She uses traditional handcrafts (crochet) to celebrate the materials, highlighting their unique quality.

Bibi and Mimi Friday Adventures is a 50 week collaborative project with Bibiana Huang Matheis

Two artists work in their separate studios (miles apart) during the same hour each week with the intention of tuning into the same creative channel. They don't speak or plan beforehand, but at the end of each session, they compare notes on their inspiration, state of mind and work produced. This is a sampling of their images often showing the relationships in their work, experiences and thoughts. For journal entries, accompanying poems and more images please see the dedicated blog. Bibi and Mimi Friday Adventures‍ ‍Please see one journal entry for Blue Diamonds below.

Bibi Mimi Monday Memo is an ongoing collaborative series by Bibiana Huang Matheis and Mimi Czajka Graminski. (And is a new incarnation of their earlier collaboration.)

“Each Monday, we commit to working simultaneously in our separate studios for one focused hour, intentionally tuning in to the same creative channel. Without prior discussion or planning, we allow ourselves to receive and follow the intuitive guidance that arises during this time, creating what we call our weekly "Memo."

This process—part ritual, part artistic dialogue—continues to reveal surprising synchronicities and thematic echoes in our individual works. Though physically apart, we are consistently struck by the deep connections that emerge through this shared act of silent collaboration.”

In 2024 Window on Hudson in Hudson, NY featured our project Bibi-Mimi Monday Memo

The project is featured in Conversations with Artists

The entire project can be viewed at

@bibimimimondaymemo