Saya Woolfalk’s (b. 1979) work incorporates African American, European American, and Japanese cultural influences, while alluding to science fiction, feminist theory, mythology, anthropology, archaeology, Eastern religion and fashion.

In A Cabinet of Anticipation , Woolfalk tells the story of the Empathics, botanic/humanoid beings who possess the extraordinary ability to cross species and fuse cultures. The gallery will feel like walking into the dark of night. Deep blue walls filled with immersive and intricate constellations of projection and wall-mounted sculptures will surround the visitor. Some projections will extend to the gallery floor surrounded by the freestanding sculptural

characters of Woolfalk’s creation. Much of the work in the exhibition opens up possibilities for future human narratives and the acceleration of post-humanism.

“Offering a response to contemporary feelings of isolation, resulting from and heightened by technology and our separation from a nature-centered mode of living, Saya’s Cabinet of Anticipation characterizes possible futures as already existing,” says Valentine Umansky, CAC Curator of Lens-Based Arts. “The rituals she orchestrates, secular rather than devout, allow us to imagine a plausible version of humanity 2.0 through the coalescence of human and plant realms.”