Jess Self, a Decatur-based sculptor and educator, presents *Celestial Perspectives* at the Marietta Cobb Museum of Art, an immersive textile environment that explores autobiography through figurative form. The exhibition features works in resin, plaster, felted wool, fiber, and rope, including the large-scale installation *The Veil* and the compelling *She Who Ties Magic Knots*, a resin and plaster cast of the artist's pregnant torso. Self's practice draws on Jungian archetypes and spiritual traditions, and the show communicates themes of connectivity, motherhood, bodily experience, and transcendence without relying on wall text.
This exhibition matters because Self deliberately sidesteps the conventional emphasis on realistic rendering of the body, instead using technical command to free her work into emotive and spiritual territory. By focusing on atmosphere and the interplay of light and form, she creates an enveloping experience that allows viewers to engage individual pieces while remaining within a cohesive metaphysical mood. The show demonstrates how contemporary textile art can transcend craft and engage deeply with philosophical and spiritual questions, offering a model for figurative art that prioritizes emotional resonance over technical mimicry.