“Hold Me Close (My Starship)” (2025), after Steve Edson, Untitled (1974), cotton, silk, lace, sequins, netting, vinyl, faux fur, and velvet, quilted and appliquéd, 90.5 x 54 inches. All images courtesy of the artist and Jeffrey Deitch, shared with permission Tenderness and Empathy Prevail in Bisa Butler’s Nostalgic and Vibrant Quilts ArtCraft Kate Mothes SharePinEmail BookmarkHarnessing the power of empathy, Bisa Butler presents a tender, evocative suite of new works in her current exhibition, Hold Me Close at Jeffrey Deitch. Her elaborate pieces combine materials like printed cotton, silk, sequins, beads, and velvet to create both large-scale tapestries and intimate vignettes. Most of Butler’s new works start with a base of jet black cotton or black velvet, onto which she layers colors and textures. Detail of “Down, down baby”“My Cherie Amour” (2025), cotton, silk, lace, sequins, netting, vinyl, glass rhinestones and plastic beads, and velvet, quilted and appliquéd, 44 x 31.