In maladaptive, Paul Latislaw continues his exploration of theatrical absurdity through the delicate craft of needle-felting. Built from Merino wool over a hidden steel armature, the work sits at the edge of the fantastical and the psychological. With bulbous curves and animated gestures, the form calls to mind a character mid-transformation—charmingly strange, maybe even slightly unhinged.
Latislaw’s figures are born from an intuitive process he calls “neurotic story-building,” where each character emerges not from a fixed narrative, but from an evolving emotional and material dialogue. While the title maladaptive points toward a trait or behavior no longer serving its original purpose, the sculpture’s playful posture and offbeat proportions suggest a refusal to conform, embracing dysfunction as a form of self-expression.
Despite its softness, the wool sculpture evokes classical statuary—elevated on a white pedestal and painstakingly crafted to mimic the gravitas of marble, while replacing stone with a material long associated with domestic labor and warmth. Campy, endearing, and just a little unsettling, maladaptive stands as a kind of anti-hero: a figure navigating emotional chaos through theatrical charm and soft resistance.