{"id":27343,"date":"2026-03-06T14:13:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T19:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/?p=27343"},"modified":"2026-03-06T14:23:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T19:23:38","slug":"cosmic-threads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/2026\/03\/06\/cosmic-threads\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Cosmic Threads’ of Funlola Coker, Erin Genia\u00a0and Maria Molteni"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The exhibition \u201cCosmic Threads,\u201d<\/a> featuring Boston artists Funlola Coker and Maria Molteni and North Berwick, Maine, artist Erin Genia at McCoy Art Gallery at Merrimack College, North Andover, \u201creimagines humanity\u2019s relationship to the cosmos beyond dominant narratives of technological progress and colonial expansion. Rather than positioning space as a frontier to be conquered, the works presented here approach the universe as a living network of relationships, where all human and non-human matter is deeply interconnected,\u201d according to the school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curated by Boston-based artist and Merrimack adjunct lecturer Megan Hyde in collaboration with the artists, the exhibition is on view from Feb. 9 to March 20, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe exhibition draws from spiritual traditions rooted in Yoruba, Dakota, and syncretic Catholic lineages, situating cosmic inquiry within ancestral frameworks that understand the universe as relational rather than extractive,\u201d according to the school. \u201cIn this context, stars, celestial bodies, and unseen forces are not distant abstractions, but active participants in a shared continuum of life. The works reach into deep time, collapsing distinctions between past, present, and future to propose alternative ways of understanding existence\u2014ways grounded in reciprocity, care, and interdependence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Maria
Maria Molteni, “Mother Meteor (Cibele) (from Beautiful Seven),” 2026. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Molteni\u2019s brooms seeming to hover in the gallery skylight and seven braided stone rosaries \u201creference the Seven Sisters of the Pleiades constellation\u201d and their related myths. Molteni\u2019s \u201cMother Meteor (Cibele)\u201d is \u201can homage to the Anatolian mother goddess Cibele (or Cybele), known to be a giant black meteorite that fell to earth,\u201d according to the school. \u201cThe Madonna di Montevergine, whose sanctuary is built on the site of an ancient temple to Cibele, is one of the famous Black Madonnas of southern Italy. Madonna di Montevergine is known for performing a miracle that saved two gay lovers who had been banished to freeze together on her mountain by the Catholic Church. As the story goes, she sent a beam of light through the clouds to melt the ice an snow sound them. Every year for the annual celebration Candelora, queer Italians pilgrimage up the mountain to the Sanctuary of Montevergine in her honor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Funlola
Funlola Coker, “Abeokuta,” 2026. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Coker\u2019s wall-drawings \u201cIdanre\u201d and \u201cAbeokuta,\u201d according to the school, \u201crefer to the chronicles of the Yoruba orisa esu\u2014the gatekeeper deity of crossroads, traveler of multiple realms. Similar to gateways, they recall transitional structures, navigational pathways, or maps into another world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Erin
Erin Genia, “Falling Star Woman in the Mesosphere,” 2020. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCanupa Inyan: Falling Star Woman\u201d by Genia, of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate people, \u201cdepicts the Dakota legend of the a star-gazing young woman who travels to space, marries a star person, and gives birth to a star child. She decides to return to her people on earth and uses the cord of her woven dress as a rope to climb down from the stars. Finding it too short, she lets go and tumbles down to earth as a wohpe woman, a falling star,\u201d the school writes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

If this is the kind of coverage of arts, cultures and activisms you appreciate, please support Wonderland by\u00a0contributing to Wonderland on Patreon<\/a>. And\u00a0sign up for our free, occasional newsletter<\/a>\u00a0so that you don’t miss any of our reporting. (All content \u00a9 Greg Cook 2026 or the respective creato<\/em>rs.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\""Cosmic
“Cosmic Threads” exhibition at Merrimack College’s McCoy Art Gallery, February 2026. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Funlola
Funlola Coker, “Drifter,” 2025, in foreground. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Maria
Maria Molteni, “Sweeping Stars (from Beautiful Seven),” 2023. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Maria
Maria Molteni, “Plaited Ouroboros \/ Woven Walking Meditation” 2020. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Maria
Maria Molteni, “Plaited Ouroboros \/ Woven Walking Meditation” 2020. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Maria
Maria Molteni, “Stone Rosaries (from Beautiful Seven),” 2025. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Maria
Maria Molteni, “Celestial Antiphony (from Counting to Infinity,” 2022. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Funlola
Funlola Coker, “Ailopin,” 2022, in foreground. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Funlola
Funlola Coker, “Idanre,” 2026. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Erin
Erin Genia, “The Universe is My Regalia,” 2018. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Erin
Erin Genia, “Canupa Inyan: Falling Star Woman,” 2020. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\""Cosmic
“Cosmic Threads” exhibition at Merrimack College’s McCoy Art Gallery, February 2026. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Maria
Maria Molteni (left) and Funlola Coker at “Cosmic Threads” exhibition at Merrimack College’s McCoy Art Gallery, February 2026. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\""Cosmic
“Cosmic Threads” exhibition at Merrimack College’s McCoy Art Gallery, February 2026. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The exhibition \u201cCosmic Threads,\u201d featuring Boston artists Funlola Coker and Maria Molteni and North Berwick, Maine, artist Erin Genia at McCoy Art Gallery at Merrimack College, North Andover, \u201creimagines humanity\u2019s relationship to the cosmos beyond dominant narratives of technological progress and colonial expansion. Rather than positioning space as a frontier to be conquered, the works […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27351,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[100],"tags":[1355,1356,1288,1358,1357],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27343"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27343"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27343\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27350,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27343\/revisions\/27350"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}