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Sky Slips Through Stone

September 6, 2025 - September 27, 2025

Opening Reception:

Thursday, September 11th from 6-9pm


Gallery Hours:

Saturdays 12-5pm and by appointment

Hannah Bates    Anna Bockrath

Francesca Lally    Cecilia McKinnon    Stephanie Van Riet


Finding kinships between the human, non-human, and non-sentient, Sky Slips Through Stone presents an alternative to the predominantly extractive relationship between art and place. Hannah Bates, Anna Bockrath, Francesca Lally, Cecilia McKinnon, and Stephanie Van Riet are each concerned with developing tools to understand their relationship to place and material/matter. Their work critiques the “advantageous” perspective of a philosophy that separates humans from nature and instead prioritizes a method of inquiry that is grounded in empathy and autonomy. In echo of deep ecologist Arne Naess’ apothegm, “Life is fundamentally one,” the artworks of Sky Slips Through Stone suggest that we become more deeply conscious of the interrelationships between Earth’s rocks, water, weather, and beings, as well as the stories and warnings they hold.


Curated by Danielle Degon Rhodes and Addison Namnoum

Hannah Bates is an artist based in Cleveland, OH. She received her MFA in Craft/Material Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University and her BFA in Fine Arts from Columbus College of Art & Design. Her work has been presented in solo exhibitions at Underscore (Milwaukee), Sculpture Space (Cleveland), and Waterloo Arts Gallery (Cleveland), as well as in group exhibitions at AUTOMAT (Philadelphia), Heaven Gallery (Chicago), and ROY G BIV Gallery (Columbus). Bates has participated in residencies at ACRE, ChaNorth, and Sculpture Space, and is the recipient of a Satellite Fund Grant from SPACES. She has taught within the glass program at Kent State University, and led metal casting workshops at venues including ACRE Residency and the Akron Art Museum. Bates is currently a member of Vessel City, an artist-run studio and exhibition space in Cleveland.


Anna Bockrath is an artist and educator based in Philadelphia. She holds an MFA in Fibers and Material Studies and a BS in Art Education from the Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University. Her work has been exhibited at Fjord, Automat Collective, The Abington Art Center, Atelier Gallery, Annmarie Sculpture Garden, and Tiger Strikes Asteroid, among others. She is currently an Adjunct Professor at the Tyler School of Art and Architecture.


Francesca Lally is an artist from New York. Moving between photography, performance, fiber, and cinema, her visual art practice centers time as a material and collaborator. Informed by her work as a media archivist, teacher, and researcher, Lally explores the poetic webs of weaving, data storage technologies, volcanoes, and language in translation. Lally’s work has been screened and exhibited at Vox Populi, Cherry Street Pier, and Icebox Project Space in Philadelphia, PA; Echo Park Film Center in Los Angeles, CA; San Diego Underground Film Festival in San Diego, CA; TUR Gallery of Art in Rome, Italy; Saliva in Barcelona, Spain; and Entre Film Center in Harlingen, TX. She has received grant support from the Independence Public Media Foundation, Scribe Video Center, and the National Film Preservation Foundation. She earned a BFA from California Institute of the Arts in 2019 and an MFA in Printmaking from the Tyler School of Art in 2025, where she spent her first year in residence at Temple University Rome. Lally is currently the 2025–26 St. Elmo Arts Residency Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin.


Cecilia McKinnon is an interdisciplinary artist and educator, living and working in Lenapehoking / Philadelphia, PA. McKinnon’s work explores entropy, precarious landscapes, and ‘natural’ histories through sculpture, video, textiles, and creative writing. McKinnon has exhibited internationally at venues including Center for Contemporary Art (Santa Fe); Vox Populi, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, and Cherry Street Pier (Philadelphia); Amos Eno Gallery (NYC); and RIPA Festival and FoFA Gallery (Montreal). She is a member of the Biomaterials Working Group, a collective for research and experimentation with sustainable materials based in Philadelphia. McKinnon has taught at Concordia University, University of Delaware, and Moore College of Art and Design; she has facilitated workshops through Teaching at the End of Times (Vox Populi), Club Plastique (Centre Verticale), and the University City Arts League. She holds an MFA in Fibers + Material Practices from Concordia University, and a BFA from the University of New Mexico.


Stephanie Van Riet (b. Boston, MA; l. Providence, RI) is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice seeks to cultivate compassion and bring attention to our natural world and the often-overlooked creatures endangered by modern lifestyles. Fascinated by how living beings sculpt the contours of our planet and develop collective intelligence through movement, she visually organizes her observations and research through sculpture, printmaking, artist books, and installation.

Van Riet received her BA in Art and Anthropology from Connecticut College in New London, CT and is currently pursuing her MFA in Sculpture at Rhode Island School of Design, Providence RI. At RISD, she  works as a Biomaterials Graduate Assistant at the Nature Lab, furthering her exploration of interspecies collaboration and sustainable approaches to creating. Her work has been exhibited throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. She was awarded a Wind Fellowship at InLiquid Gallery and an Apprenticeship at the Fabric Workshop and Museum, and was an Artist-In-Residence at Da Vinci Art Alliance; all in Philadelphia, PA.


AUTOMAT Collective

Suite 105, Crane Arts Building

1400 N. American Street

Philadelphia, PA 19122

Gallery Hours:

Saturdays 12-5pm and by appointment

Contact Us:

automatcollective(at)gmail(dot)com

© 2025 by AUTOMAT Collective.

AUTOMAT takes part in Second Thursdays. On the second Thursday of each month, AUTOMAT hosts opening receptions  and programming in its gallery space within the Crane Arts Building. 

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