Sweetheart Grip

November 14th — December 19th, 2026
Curated by Beth Schindler

SWEETHEART GRIP  is a conversation rooted in perception. During World War II, soldiers sometimes embedded photographs of loved ones in the clear grips of their pistols, holding tenderness and violence in the same hand. The sweetheart grip becomes a metaphor for this collection of works of Machine (LA, CA) and Simone Thornton (Austin TX), as they reclaim objects, gestures, and spaces traditionally coded as masculine.

Through familiar symbols of strength, toughness, and concealment, both artists embody the ways gender is recognized and performed. Machine subverts popular iconography, creating objects that resist a fixed gender identity. Thornton revisits the rituals and artifacts that once offered refuge, revealing the vulnerability beneath the performance.

Both artists explore how strength is perceived, performed, and misread. They create moments in which objects and iconography become something other than what they appear to be, creating an identity that resists easy categorization and revealing something we cannot control: how we are seen, and who we are becoming.

Programming:

• Artist Talk: Sunday Nov 15th, 4-6pm moderated by writer Gemma Rolls-Bentley

• Queer Art- Book talk: Monday Nov 16th 6pm at First Light Books with author Gemma Rolls-Bentley & Beth Schindler RSVP here

• Film Screening: Pumping Iron 2-The Women: Dec 17th 7-9pm

• Closing: Saturday Dec 19th 

About the Artists:

Machine is an interdisciplinary artist from Los Angeles. They make paintings, sculpture and clothing inspired by queer lesbian culture and gender tropes. Machine’s visual art has been exhibited at  Gothem in NY, Cirrus Gallery, LAST Projects, OCHI in LA and on the cover of Delphi Magazine.  Their clothes appear on dykes all around the world, and pop up stores have most recently been hosted by The One Archives in LA, Le 29 in Paris, and She Said in Berlin.

Simone Thornton is an artist and illustrator originally from South Florida, where she grew up between her family’s tree farm and the small ocean-side town she called home. Her early fascination with the natural world continues to inform her work, which draws on memory, observation, and a deep appreciation for color, texture, and detail. Working across illustration and ceramics, she creates imagery and objects that explore the relationship between personal experience, memory, and identity.

Thornton’s practice moves between imagined natural landscapes and more personal forms of storytelling. Through vibrant colors, intricate details, and familiar objects, she explores the way places, experiences, and everyday rituals shape our understanding of ourselves. Her work is rooted in a desire to revisit moments from the past, finding new meaning in the people, environments, and experiences that continue to influence who she is.