Feel like a mess? Bust out your best art smock for Play Date, where innocence and irony collide. This debut solo show by Elizabeth Gordon Stilwell unravels the tangled threads of her evangelical childhood and the ideals of American culture, beauty, sex, gender, and home that came with it. Through large, layered pieces—ranging from sculptures to textiles—she stitches together personal memorabilia and found materials to explore the deliciously weird terrain of girlhood.

Ribbons, pink, mirrors, and religious icons weave through the rooms, echoing the sweet loss of innocence and turning the world’s uninvited gaze back on itself. Here, adorable meets horror, and the absurdity of being a girl is laid bare. Play Date is a grown-up game of show-and-tell where the toys are symbols and the stories are…complicated.

The journey begins at the gallery’s entrance with Have Mercy, the Princess Series, The Party Womb, How Do I Look? and Birth Control Altar. Elsewhere, Don’t Let the Bastards Set You Down, 4-Letter Word, and McCrèche perch on pedestals, daring visitors to look closer. In the “baby’s room,” nestled near the windows, a not-so-sweet nursery is furnished with I Am My Own Baby, Daddy Stitch, Baby Mobile, and Babygate.

But this exhibit isn’t just for looking—it’s for playing. Public programming includes open studios, workshops, and an ongoing art supply swap. Using secondhand and found materials, visitors of all ages are invited to create, to reflect, and to become artists in this space.

Come ready to play!

When: March 14-28, 2025

Where: The Pack Studio
526 W26th St. #807
New York, NY 10001