Cory Feder: Bluebird of Happiness

Cory Feder: Bluebird of Happiness
On view: September 26–November 2, 2025
Opening reception: Friday, September 26, 5:00-8:00 pm

smoke the moon presents Bluebird of Happiness, a solo show of new work by Cory Feder (Taos, New Mexico). Bluebird of Happiness marks the artist’s first solo show with the gallery and spans textile, painting and ceramic work. Though Feder employs various material practices, her work is united by a devotion to earth’s small wonders.

The bluebird carves a bright spot against an otherwise gray sky. Across cultures, and over millennia, there has been a common agreement about the bird’s goodwill. An innate knowledge that to catch that streak of blue is a harbinger of the future’s good side. Though the myths and particularities morph across the globe, the bluebird’s flight weaves a unifying, devotional hope.

Dream and earth unite in Feder’s work. Drawing on creatures from her Korean ancestry, her work often includes Japsangs: decorative animal figurines that are traditionally placed on the roofs of buildings to ward off evil spirits.The material traditions of the southwest serve as the means of grounding and translating the fantastic. Feder has delved into the vernacular language of folk traditions endemic to this region, preserving their history into her own world. Colcha embroidery, clay paint and earth’s materials take center stage in this collection of works.

Across the San Luis Valley and rural northern New Mexico, Colcha is a means of preserving the local history by rendering images of important places, stories and people through wool embroidery. The form is traditionally practiced together in groups, with the New Mexican contingent using wool from the local Churro sheep. Connecting with this traditional form has served as a personal tie to Feder’s homeland of Colorado and current home in northern New Mexico. One of the theories of origin for the Colcha tradition (among others) is that it arose from Chinese silk embroideries being imported into Mexico. The spirit of the local intersecting with the wider thread.

Absurd beauty is captured within the familiar. Animals become deities of humdrum tasks, flowers erupt in flame, and through it all the diligence of Feder’s devotion to her materials is ever-present. Bluebird of Happiness is a prayer to the ground and the sky. Feder reminds us that to dream we must first understand where we stand.