Chloro, Cora Van Vleet, 2025, recycled fabric, 24 x 21 in. / 60.96 x 53.34 cm.

Nature and Transformation in Cora Van Vleet’s Art

April 18, 2026 Gavin Coates

Featured image: Chloro, Cora Van Vleet, 2025, recycled fabric, 24 x 21 in. / 60.96 x 53.34 cm.

Cora Van Vleet’s works Feeling, Not Seeing, Nest, and Specs of Tackle explore the intersection of nature, perception, and material transformation through mixed media and textile-based forms.

Cora Van Vleet creates mixed media works using recycled textiles, paint, and embroidery to explore ecological themes, material transformation, and natural imagery.

Working with recycled fabrics, paint, and layered surfaces, Van Vleet constructs works that merge ecological imagery with tactile structures. Her practice often incorporates repurposed materials, allowing the physical history of textiles to contribute to the conceptual narrative of renewal and environmental awareness. Across painting and sculpture, these works investigate how natural forms, animals, and plant life can emerge through experimental material processes.

Feeling, Not Seeing, Cora Van Vleet, 2026, mixed media, 48 x 32 in. / 121.92 x 81.28 cm.

In Feeling, Not Seeing, Van Vleet transforms a recycled curtain into a richly layered pictorial surface. The fabric is stretched and ruched to create folds that interrupt the traditional flatness of painting, while images of alligators appear across the surface in varying levels of opacity. These overlapping forms create a surreal environment in which the animals seem to emerge and dissolve within the textile landscape. Embroidered embellishments further animate the composition, reinforcing the sense that the scene exists somewhere between representation and abstraction. The result is a layered visual field where perception is guided not only by sight but by the tactile presence of the material itself.

Nest, Cora Van Vleet, 2025, recycled textiles, 48 x 48 in. / 121.92 x 121.92 cm.

Nest is a sculptural work composed of recycled textile samples carefully hand-sewn into looping, intertwined forms. Arranged into a circular structure, the sculpture resembles both a literal nest and an abstract cluster of organic growth. The shifting gradient of neutral tones—from light fabrics to darker textiles—creates a visual rhythm across the surface while emphasizing the depth of the woven mass. By repurposing discarded materials, Van Vleet highlights cycles of renewal and environmental stewardship. The piece suggests protection, shelter, and regeneration, echoing the natural function of nests as sites of life and continuity.

Specs of Tackle, Cora Van Vleet, 2024, mixed media, 16 x 16 in. / 40.64 x 40.64 cm.

In Specs of Tackle, Van Vleet presents a vibrant round composition where tropical plants and flowers frame the image of a frog resting among lush foliage. The circular format enhances the sense of immersion, drawing the viewer into a dense botanical environment rendered with saturated greens, pinks, and reds. The frog becomes a focal point within the surrounding vegetation, its bright coloration contrasting against the darker background. Through painterly detail and layered plant forms, the work reflects the richness of ecological systems while celebrating the visual complexity of tropical environments.

Across Feeling, Not Seeing, Nest, and Specs of Tackle, Cora Van Vleet explores how materials and imagery can reveal the interconnected cycles of nature. Recycled textiles, layered painting techniques, and sculptural forms combine to emphasize themes of renewal, perception, and ecological awareness. By allowing natural subjects to emerge through unconventional surfaces and structures, Van Vleet creates works that invite viewers to reconsider both the materials of art and the fragile environments they reference.

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