Han Cao: Threads of Allegiance
August 1 – August 24, 2025

OPENING RECEPTION
Friday, August 1 • 6PM – 8PM
RSVP here*
*Appreciated but not required

Paradigm Gallery + Studio is pleased to present Threads of Allegiance, a new series of meticulously embroidered ephemera by fiber artist Han Cao. Threads of Allegiance is a collection of hand-embroidered interventions on found, vintage postcards of iconic American imagery. Through tiny knots, these once-revered symbols erupt, dissolve, or quietly unravel, embodying the tensions between national pride and political disillusionment. The threadwork becomes both a method of adornment and a gesture of undoing—disintegrating symbols that once stood for unity and power, now fragmented by the weight of contemporary realities.  Threads of Allegiance invites viewers to consider what holds together and what must come undone.

Han Cao: Threads of Allegiance will be on view on the second floor of the Paradigm Arts Building (12 N 3rd Street) from August 1 through August 24, 2025 with a public opening reception on Friday, August 1 from 6:00-8:00pm.

Please email info@paradigm-gallery.com if you wish to be added to Han Cao's digital collector preview list for her upcoming collection, or submit your request HERE.

About Han Cao
Han is a self-taught artist currently living in Dallas, Texas. She uses embroidery to create new narratives for long-forgotten photographs and postcards found at flea markets and antique shops from around the world. All embroidery on the artwork is done by hand, directly onto the original found image.

Her art combines fibers of embroidery thread with the paper fibers of each photograph to connect with the fibers of our own being – as the added dimension of each work challenges our self-identity and personal connection with unfamiliar people and places.

About Paradigm Gallery + Studio
Paradigm Gallery + Studio® was established in 2010 by co-founders and curators, Jason Chen and Sara McCorriston. The gallery exhibits meaningful, process-intense contemporary artwork by emerging and mid-career artists from around the world. In 2022, Paradigm announced the opening of its new 5-story, 7,000 sq. ft. home, The Paradigm Arts Building, in Old City, Philadelphia. Now open to the public, the building boasts multiple floors of exhibition space, integrated in-house design and printmaking, a dedicated events floor, and art advisory offices. With this, Chen and McCorriston expanded their vision for the greater Philadelphia arts community. The gallery is at the heart of this vision, anchoring Paradigm’s overall mission of increasing access to the commercial art world, supporting artists and advancing their careers, and collaborating with like-minded partners to build a more equitable, sustainable arts economy for all.

EXHIBITION HOURS
Thursdays • 10 AM – 6 PM
Fridays • 10 AM – 6 PM
Saturdays • 11 AM – 6 PM
Sundays • 11 AM – 5 PM
And by appointment outside of hours.

MEDIA CONTACT
For all inquiries contact info@paradigm-gallery.com

LOCATION
12 N. 3rd Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106

SOCIAL MEDIA
Instagram: @ParadigmGS
TikTok: ParadigmGallery
Facebook: facebook.com/paradigmgallery

Please email info@paradigm-gallery.com if you wish to be added to Han Cao's digital collector preview list for her upcoming collection, or submit your request HERE.