The bow in the cloud

Stephen Andrews’s work engages memory, identity, and technology across photography, drawing, animation, painting, and ceramics. The bow in the cloud is a large tapestry composed from a digital image. The image combines video stills of the May 2025 St. Louis tornado—abstracted into a shortened vortex—with a rainbow that appeared over the city. Inspired by rainbow photographs shared online after the storm, Andrews understands the rainbow as a symbol of hope. Suspended in the form of a Fibonacci spiral, the textile invites viewers to walk around and into it, creating a pathway of discovery shaped by chance. The tapestry includes a timeline that moves from the past on the left to a future that is still unfolding. For Andrews, weather serves as an analogy for the capricious nature of life. Deeply impacted by his own experiences with HIV/AIDS, Andrews understands that life, like the weather, can change everything in the blink of an eye.

Courtesy of Paul Petro Contemporary Art.