Michelle Hinebrook on Kay Darrt
Kay Dartt, Progenitor, 2025, Cast Iron, 12 x 6 x 6 inches
On a beautiful July afternoon, walking along the banks of the Hudson River, I discovered the work of Kay Darrt in a large industrial gallery space for Off the Clock: UAP Staff Show. This biennial staff exhibition was the highlight of my adventures during the NY Upstate Art Weekend. The exhibition runs from July 17 to August 24, 2025. The diverse group show features a selection of artwork created by artists who work at UAP assisting other artists who are making large-scale sculptures. With proceeds and sales directly supporting the participating artists, this show at the queer-owned-and-run Elijah Wheat Showroom in Newburgh, NY is not to be missed. The gallery, founded by partners in life and business Liz Nielsen and Carolina Wheat, is committed to exhibiting political and socially conscientious art across all mediums.
I was drawn into Off the Clock when I spotted Kay’s sculpture. I recognized it right away as a kind of sacred object. Progenitor is a powerful piece that feels at once ancient and technological. Though only 12 inches high, its energetic presence is much larger than its scale. The digitally triangulated base opens to a biomorphic top that gestures towards something more fluid, hybrid, and emergent. The precision of the base gives way to smooth, organic curves and, as it ascends, the surface shifts from dark black to a warm, earthy reddish-brown, creating a sense of growth, metamorphosis, and release. Three triangulated, bulbous forms support the base; they are scorched black with a torch, and the charred patina gradates from deep black into rusty iron earth tones at the top. The skill and materiality of the piece reflect Kay’s deep experience fabricating large-scale sculpture at UAP.
At the top, the sculpture peels open into a hollow, symmetrical orifice. Its contours are thick and soft-edged, evoking flesh, touch, and vulnerability. From some angles the form is phallic; from others, vaginal or floral. The trumpet-like opening suggests a cavernous orifice. There is a distinct tension between the base’s faceted, technological geometry and the upper section’s fluid, organic forms, amplified by the interplay of surface, light, and shadow. This sculpture feels dynamic, alive, and in continuous transformation.
Progenitor challenges the boundaries where sexuality, gender, and biofutures meet. It is a non-binary reimagining of the body. It harmonizes with and expands beyond gendered interpretations. The sculpture feels paused in a moment of transformation, thrusting upward and then peeling back to create an orifice that speaks to emergence. It claims bodily autonomy in the uniqueness of its form. The work feels rooted in feminist and queer discourse. In this piece, Kay is queering traditional sculptural language, weaving together themes of gender, feminism, body politics, and queer culture. Progenitor presents new possibilities of a body that reaches beyond expectations—one that generates its own identity, sexuality, and expression.
Michelle Hinebrook, The Dreaming, 2025, Acrylic and Oil On Canvas, 42 x 48 inches
Michelle Hinebrook is a Brooklyn-based painter whose vivid, mystical abstractions channel energy, memory, and spirit through a ritual-based process. Her luminous veils of color and intricate layering invite viewers into liminal spaces where transformation and transcendence unfold. Rooted in both material experimentation and spiritual inquiry, her work bridges the unseen and the sensual, offering paintings that feel both intimate and infinite.
