Melissa Johns: Hope Chest

Cambridge Art Galleries is pleased to launch a new digital pilot project throughout 2026. The information screens located at all of the library branches will intermittently play animation and video artwork created by contemporary Canadian artists.

In Hope Chest, artist Melissa Johns digitally replicates a crotchet blanket inherited from her mother and grandmother. Crochet is one of the only textile processes that is too complex to be replicated by a machine and can only be created by hand. Johns’ translation of crotchet into the digital world of 3D modelling cheekily plays with this impossibility, replicating and linking the granny squares to form a vibrant, infinitely expanding digital blanket that pulsates on the screen.

Curated by Žana Kozomora

Melissa Johns is a new media artist and educator from a mixed Kanien’keha:ka (Mohawk, Turtle Clan) and French Canadian background, born and based in Tkaronto. Melissa’s visual practice manifests at the convergence of contemporary media, using interdisciplinary methods to collect, preserve, and transform fragments of the stories around her. Her practice is process-heavy, meticulously translating sentimental objects and family histories into new digital forms. Specializing in virtual reality installations, digital painting, and video art, Melissa’s work centers on investigating the narrative potential of these emergent channels.