Exhibition opens October 17th, 2026 and runs through September 2028.

Agency is a site-specific exhibition by ceramic artist Molly Hatch that transforms Fuller Craft Museum’s Atrium Gallery into a metaphorical jewelry box. In this immersive installation, Hatch reappropriates traditional Victorian jewelry motifs as symbols of feminine strength, autonomy, and empowerment. Through large-scale ceramic bows, snakes, swallows, arrows, and celestial forms, she reclaims imagery once associated with prescribed notions of patriarchal authority over women, recasting these symbols as powerful expressions of female agency and liberation.

At a time when questions of identity and gender remain at the forefront of public discourse, Agency suggests that asserting autonomy through the hyper-feminine can itself become an act of defiance. By reinterpreting symbols once used to define and control women, Hatch invites visitors to reconsider the meanings embedded in familiar forms. What once signified possession or prescribed roles is reimagined as a visual language of feminine resistance.

Hatch’s latest installation is a continuation of the artist’s ongoing interest in transforming familiar decorative forms through scale, context, and meaning. Ceramic plates, traditionally rooted in the domestic realm, take on new presence and power as Hatch assembles them into monumental compositions that command the gallery space. By elevating these household objects to such an ambitious scale, Hatch challenges the hierarchy that has historically separated the decorative arts from fine art, while honoring the histories and values embedded in the objects that surround us.

Based in Florence, Massachusetts, Molly Hatch is internationally recognized for her large-scale ceramic installations, which draw inspiration from historical decorative arts while engaging contemporary cultural themes. Her work is held in numerous public and private collections, including the Carnegie Museum of Art (PA), Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (Canada), High Museum of Art (GA), and Newark Museum (NJ). Created specifically for Fuller Craft Museum, Agency offers an immersive meditation on reclaiming history through craft, beauty, and the enduring power of symbolsm. 

Object Symbolism

Historically, jewelry—particularly during the Victorian era—was often given to women as an assertion of male ownership. Pin a bow over her heart, for example, to signify she’s spoken for, and so on. In each of the works created for Agency, I reclaim the historic symbolism of Victorian jewelry, transforming these once-prescriptive motifs into powerful expressions of feminist strength and resilience within a metaphorical jewelry box.

BOW

Historically a jeweled bow was pinned near the heart, declaring her as being bound to another. The bow functioned as a promise of fidelity and signaled to other men that she is spoken for. The oversized BOW inAgency is inspired by the sartorial trend of wearing a bow as an act of feminist defiance. The larger the bow, the greater the declaration of feminine strength and independence. Wearing a bow as a woman today can be a symbolic act of rejection of the traditional notions of femininity and has, in turn, become an act of dissent.

SNAKES

Snakes have historically symbolized eternal commitment and love, particularly when a man gifted a snake to a woman. In Agency, I put forward the snake as a symbol of feminist rebirth and transformation, asking the viewer to consider growth and resilience in the feminine. Feminism is constantly adapting and pivoting, shedding its old skin, bringing in the new in an eternal cycle of reinventing itself as it continues to be challenged and undermined.

SWALLOW

The swallow returns to its nest year after year making it an ideal symbol of stability and homecoming. Typically given to a woman left behind by a voyaging man, it intended to give hope for the man’s safe return while also laying claim to the woman receiving and wearing the swallow. In Agency, I ask the viewer to see the swallow as a beacon of hope and grounding in a return to the foundations of feminism that so many women have worked hard to establish over generations. As women weather the storms ahead, may we remain steadfast.

ARROW

The arrow historically signified progress, forward movement, and action. In Agency, I use the arrow to point us in the right direction—towards hope and holding steady, towards defiance and action against power structures that work to define and control the feminine.

STAR

The eight-pointed star in Victorian jewelry represented the North Star. A woman wearing the North Star was signaling that she has a man who is on a long journey, worn as a talisman to ensure their love’s way back home. It also symbolized an unwavering moral compass and commitment to family through life’s hardships. Agencyreclaims the star as a symbol of unwavering dedication and a symbol of new beginnings.

CRESCENT MOON

The Victorian symbolism associated with the crescent moon represented the divine feminine, female empowerment, and the changing phases of life. It was typically given as a honeymoon gift signifying a new life, a new beginning. Keeping with tradition, Agency affirms the crescent moon as a reminder of new beginnings and the feminine connection to the celestial. As women, we are all connected, not only to each other but also to the greater universe. May we harness that connection and move forward together.