À Mon Seul Désir (To My Only Desire)
Hannah Banciella, Jessy Nite, Juan Pablo Bohorquez, and Rattapoom Piwpantamit
curated by SOPHIA BALLESTEROS
LAUNDROMAT ART SPACE
185 NE 59th Street Miami, FL 33137
AUG 30 – SEPT 27, 2025
OPENING RECEPTION: AUG 30, 6-9PM
À Mon Seul Désir is a group exhibition featuring works by Hannah Banciella, Jessy Nite, Juan Pablo Bohorquez, and Rattapoom Piwpantamit, curated by Sophia Ballesteros. Inspired by the layered mythology of the unicorn, the four artists explore themes of divinity and desire through both historical symbolism and contemporary reinterpretation.
The exhibition takes its title from À Mon Seul Désir (“To my only desire”), the final panel in The Lady and the Unicorn tapestry series from the late Medieval period. While the first five panels represent the five senses, the sixth introduces a more ambiguous theme, often interpreted as love or spiritual awakening. Unlike the other scenes, this tapestry gestures toward an inward sense beyond physical perception. This idea of a “sixth sense,” shaped by emotion and reflection, sets the tone of the exhibition.
The unicorn is a timeless icon; a creature of fierce beauty and romantic allure shaped by centuries of contradiction. In medieval folklore, the unicorn could only be tamed by a virgin maiden. Its fierce yet gentle nature was often used as an allegorical reference to Christ, deepening its spiritual resonance. Other interpretations of medieval works suggest a more sensual or romantic metaphor behind the unicorn’s presence. Over time, the unicorn also became a symbol of commerce. Its horn — thought to possess healing properties — was once a highly coveted resource in early modern Europe. Today, though often associated with innocence or fantasy, the unicorn still carries a complex and conflicted history.
Each artist draws from the unicorn’s evolving symbolism to explore vulnerability, betrayal, and transformation. Hannah Banciella reimagines the traditional myth through sculpture, textile, and painting. The maidens within her works are no longer passive figures of innocence, but rather seekers of power who ultimately slay the creature. Visual references to the fenced garden in The Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries recur in her work, blurring the line between sanctuary and captivity.
Thailand-born and based artist Rattapoom Piwpantamit presents a contemplative oil painting centered on a winged white pegacorn. His process involves gently layering oil paint on canvas while intentionally leaving parts of the surface untouched to create a sense of air and openness. Through this method, painting becomes a practice of mindfulness. Rooted in the artist’s experience caring for his mother during cancer treatment, Lonely (2024) reflects on the fragility between life and memory.
Jessy Nite brings the unicorn into a contemporary emotional space through large-scale weavings made of paracord, a material traditionally associated with utility. Woven phrases like Endure and If I Was a River connect to ideas of healing and resilience. Her work also nods to the medieval belief that unicorns could purify water with their horns — an act subtly echoed in the glowing waters of Juan Pablo Bohorquez’s large charcoal drawing on paper. In his work Holy Waters (2025), a wounded unicorn stands in a shallow, glowing pool as the shape of a man moves, or perhaps merely floats, beneath the surface. The recurring presence of water in Bohorquez’s work alludes to the unicorn’s historic role in cleansing, while also suggesting the fluidity of symbolic meaning. Through surreal, dreamlike landscapes, Bohorquez explores how the unicorn has become intertwined with commodification and the overall dilution of the legend behind the symbol.
Together, the artworks in À Mon Seul Désir present the concept of the unicorn as more than a mythical figure. Like the sixth tapestry that inspires the exhibition’s title, this show resists fixed interpretation. Instead, it invites viewers to reflect on how meaning arises not only from what is seen, but from what is felt, remembered, and imagined. Perhaps the unicorn’s power lies not in dominance, but in its willingness to be vulnerable — its sanctity made stronger by the existence of desire and corruption.
À Mon Seul Désir is on view August 30 through September 27, 2025 at Laundromat Art Space, Miami, FL USA. Please contact Sophia for more details: [email protected]
