A mixed-media textile installation that explores how clothing bears the marks of disabled life.
Opening Friday, September 5, from 5-8pm
“How Do You Wear? is a mixed-media textile installation that explores how clothing bears the marks of disabled life. For many physically disabled individuals, myself included, garments often degrade in predictable ways: forearm fabric thinning from crutch use, elbows rubbing on wheels, seams tearing, fabrics pilling and shredding in irregular patterns. This project reframes that inevitable wear as evidence of interaction, resilience, and storytelling rather than frustration or failure.”
Sydney Keller is a designer and researcher exploring the relationship between materials and disabled bodies, revealing wear as a form of visual storytelling.
Sydney graduated from Wesleyan University in May 2025 with a self-designed major in Computational Design, an interdisciplinary program bridging computer science, computational fabrication methods, and design. Her senior thesis applied these interests to her unique story, exploring the disabled experience through both personal and collaborative lenses. By critically examining the medical and social models of disability, Sydney addresses assumptions around normalcy and the body. Themes of emotional labor, microaggressions, adaptive tools as apparel, and the compounding effects of those experiences over time are also made evident and contended with.
Based in Boston, Sydney is currently working on the material development team at New Balance. She hopes to continue building on her thesis work by improving the accessibility of the systems, products, and environments we interact with daily through co-design, material innovation, and a belief that wear is worth noticing.
Image Description: On a nave blue background is a photograph of a room in which black, white, navy, and blue shirts and sweaters are suspended from the ceiling. Three semi-transparent statues of people standing and sitting in a wheelchair are placed among the garments in the room, which is made of stone. Surrounding the image is the following text: “POSITIVE EXPOSURE GALLERY. HOW DO YOU WEAR? SYDNEY KELLER. A mixed-media textile installation that explores how clothing bears the marks of disabled life. Opening Friday, September 5, 5-8pm. On view through October 1, 2025. 83 Maiden Lane, 4th Floor. New York, NY 10038.”
