Noa Rickey is an artist, performer, and educator. Born and raised in Minnesota to a family of artists, they grew up with a deep appreciation of craft and fine art making. Noa received a BFA in Drama from NYU Tisch School of the Arts with a minor in Irish Studies. As a graduate student at UW-Madison, they worked as a research assistant for the Design Studies Hemp Lab, a production assistant for Marianne Fairbanks and Mary Hark, and have taught an array of textile practices to undergraduate and graduate students at UW and in the community. In the summer of 2024, they received a fellowship and funding to research lace and culture in Ireland. They returned to Ireland in summer of 2025 with funding from the US Government and UW-Madison to learn Gaeilge and continue their research into Irish culture and textiles. Noa just received their MFA in Design Studies from UW-Madison after a successful thesis exhibition. With an interdisciplinary approach, Noa explores the stories people keep close to their bodies.
Noa Rickey
Statement
My work investigates the concept of home: both the expansive question of “Who are we and where do we come from?” and the more intimate, “What do I keep close to my home?”. Home is made with the objects we choose to create our spaces, the clothes we put on our bodies, and the direct decisions we make to connect with the land we live on and our genealogy. These questions of home have propelled me to create both large-scale sculptures and small embroidery and lace works.
My MFA thesis titled Mothaígh Thú Uaim: Feeling You From Me, utilized nets and lace to abstract memories of grief following the loss of my mother at age nineteen. I explored the intimate, vulnerable, and dark feelings I’ve carried over the years since my mom’s death.
All of my textile work is made from natural, biodegradable substances that will disintegrate alongside our bodies. The processes of creating nets, paper, and weavings speak to how the body is implicit in the labor and care of making. Through installation, I constructed a space that emphasizes the distance between the self and what has been lost. Memory does not remain fixed; it shifts, erodes, and accumulates.
PLAN YOUR VISIT
Arts + Literature Laboratory is located at 111 S. Livingston Street #100, Madison, Wisconsin, 53703.
Our galleries are normally open Tuesday through Friday 10am-5pm and Saturday noon to 5pm, and other programs take place throughout the week. Please check the events calendar and education section for details.
We will be closed Saturday, June 13 for a private event.