In the Gallery
Courtesy of Maria Molteni, Beautiful Seven at the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art. 2021.
Cosmic Queer
Opening Reception: October 2, 2026, 6-8PM
Public Programming: December 5, 2026, 12-3PM
On view through December 5, 2026
WSW presents Cosmic Queer, a solo exhibition by Boston-based artist Maria Molteni (they/them). Molteni will be weaving together recent works that highlight their intersection of interests in the cosmos, queer identity, and relationship with the Divine (and divination) and syncretic- the merging of beliefs and thoughts- Catholic studies and practices. Cosmic Queer invites viewers to extend beyond binaries through play and prayer. Through a combination of site-specific installation components, the exhibition will incorporate various elements of a growing body of work related to a grouping of Molteni’s elaborate projects that began around 2022: Counting to Infinity, Stelle Scopa, Beautiful Seven, and Heart of Stone.
Counting to Infinity incorporates Molteni’s favorite Italian card game, Scopa, and their own artist-designed deck inspired by the Italian playing cards, which are at the core of this work. Beautiful Seven builds on Counting to Infinity and includes, among other elements, dozens of hand drawings and found stones. The colored fingers in the drawings reflect Molteni’s childhood habit of counting Hail Marys. Rosary prayer is one of the longest-running themes in Molteni’s artwork. In Heart of Stone, Molteni explains, “When counting beads and beats, bodies reunite with the rhythms of heaven and earth. Through this lens, they exercise what they call Celestial Antiphony, a call-and-response relationship with the divine.”
In addition to combining many elements from Molteni’s interwoven practice, Cosmic Queer will incorporate objects and publications they’ve produced under Infinite Goddetc, their publishing project. The exhibition will weave together the various forms of Molteni’s work into a beautiful web, including performance, exhibition, publications, murals, films, and ritual. Elements of personal and cultural research will provide more context for their practice.
Cosmic Queer Exhibition Closing: Artist Talk + Stelle Scopa Festa
Molteni invite viewers to join them on December 5th from 12-3PM for an afternoon of exploration and play.
Molteni will lead a small tour of the show, revealing many exciting concepts, adventures, and miracles hidden within their practice and artwork. They’ll then offer attendees an introduction to playing (and some Tarot) cards from different regions of Italy and how they inspired Molteni’s own original deck Stelle Scopa. This will be essential for anyone who’s never played with Italian cards.
Afterwards, attendees may watch and learn through an “open-faced” game of Scopa and Stelle Scopa. Learning new games can be tedious for some, but Molteni will walk everyone through the rules with an organic and easy-to-learn approach.
The afternoon will conclude with a Stelle Scopa Festa! Attendees will break into sets of 2-4 and play Stelle Scopa together in small groups. You’re welcome to bring a cherished object that represents one of the 4 elements of magic and Tarot: Fire, Earth, Air or Water or your own favorite playing card deck to show off. If it’s an Italian deck, they might even use it to play!
About the Artist
Maria Molteni (b 1983, Nashville) is a queer interdisciplinary artist, educator, designer, writer, and witch living in Massachusetts. They descend from TN square dancers, stunt motorcyclists, quilters, farmers, and opera singers of various European backgrounds. Molteni has formal training in painting, printmaking, athletics, dance, and art education. Today, their work expands to incorporate research, social magic, ritual performance, and play-based collaboration with the living and the dead. They enjoy tactile and tactical problem-solving- giving shape to the unseen while probing modes of spirit work over many centuries. Their intuitive practice spans somatic spellcraft, astrology, tarot, dreamwork, color magic, and Marian mysticism.
Molteni’s publishing project Infinite Goddetc uses writing and wordplay to emphasize divine multiplicity. It offers zines, artist books, prints, apparel, original tarot + playing cards, and limited-edition art objects that are deeply researched and liberatory. They center queerness, intersectional feminism, and gender-expansive mysticism through a playful framework for editions called “Counting to Infinity”.
Gallery Hours are 9:00-5:00, Monday-Friday or by appointment
Check out WSW’s Past Exhibitions