Natale Adgnot’s Silk Wrangler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Natale Adgnot is a sculptor and fiber artist who uses mixed media to explore cognitive bias and logical fallacy. Best known for wall sculptures made of painted thermoplastic adhered perpendicularly onto panels, she increasingly incorporates a variety of materials that are emblematic of her personal history into her work. Her new work turns Western and Japanese garments into soft sculptural artworks.

The daughter of a Texas horse trainer, Adgnot highlights saddle forms and French Couture in her  latest works, using vintage garments like a kimono, Western snap shirts and denim together with horsehair and thermoplastic. Rather than forming literal saddles (she purposefully misuses the saddle assembly instructions, in fact), these works abstract saddle patterns, stitched, stuffed and painted into hybrid sculptures that become a kind of personal map, tracing influences from Adgnot’s childhood in Texas, a decade working in Paris couture, and years spent living in Japan.

This series is part of her solo exhibition, Silk Wrangler, at Established Gallery in New York throughl Nov 2, 2025.

 

Name : Natale Adgnot

Birthplace : Los Angeles, California

Métier : Visual artist. Previously graphiste and styliste de mode in France. Before that: graphic designer in the US with a brief stint teaching at FIT.

 

 

Sources of inspiration : My personal history, especially the places I’ve lived (Texas, France, Japan, NYC). More specifically, I have an obsession with combatting the cultural biases I’ve encountered while living with these different groups of people. It shows up in my work as a mash-up of visual artifacts from all these places or references to cognitive biases and how stupid they make us. I’m inspired by the idea of reminding myself and others to be humble instead of dogmatic.

Sources of motivation :  Seeing other artists’ work. Solving visual puzzles that I make for myself (i.e. how to put together things that don’t usually go together). Figuring out new ways to use materials.

What makes you happy : Meeting someone with the same tastes in music

 

 

Favorite reads : social psychology books (Gladwell, Kahneman, Klein), David Sedaris, and film/TV reviews on Vulture.com

Favorite tunes : Anything by Thom Yorke; The Smile, Atoms for Peace, Radiohead. Also, everything else except for country music.

 

 

Favorite foods : Cheese enchiladas (Texas-style), Ethiopian food, cold soba noodles with sesame sauce

Favorite ways to unwind : Watching psychological horror films with my kid

 

 

Favorite part of living in New York : Last-minute outings to the world’s best cultural experiences in music, art, fashion… just a subway ride away. And living just upstairs from excellent restaurants.

Favorite place to travel to : Japan or any place I’ve never visited before

 

 

Travel tips : Do your homework before you go. Knowing something about the history of what you’re going to see makes it so much more interesting once you get there. 

What gets you in a working flow : Listening to the right music is the fastest shortcut to a flow state. I also love listening to podcasts while hand sewing.

 

 

What are you working on now : Two large commissioned wall sculptures are halfway finished in the studio. Several more soft sculptures in my Saddle Couturage series are also in progress. The soft sculpture I have in my bag right now is a snap-shirt sleeve that’s been dyed yellow and will be combined with a piece of kimono silk lining that was dipped in gold acrylic paint. 

Favorite motto / quote : “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.” – Socrates

 

“A metaphor for my yearning to bridge cultural gaps in understanding, my work combines materials that tell my life story. Western-style clothing and horsehair represent my childhood in Texas. Cotton muslin, a fashion prototyping staple, is representative of my decade living in Paris and working in couture. Kimono silk and gold thread (deployed as a stand-in for the gold lacquer used in kintsugi) are a nod to the three years I spent living in Japan. And finally, the feather-like protrusions, horse hooves, and other shapes I affix to many of my sculptures are made of thermoplastic, a versatile and shape-shifting material that represents my current life in New York City where people are free to take many forms.”

All artwork photography by Paul Takeuchi.