Sagg Swamp by Laurie Lambrecht

The Bridgehampton Museum presents Sagg Swamp, an exhibition of photographs and textile works by Laurie Lambrecht. The works were made in and around Sagg Swamp, one of the South Fork’s most ecologically diverse wetland preserves.

For over a decade, Lambrecht has returned to the swamp, walking its paths and photographing its trees, vines, water, lichen, and dense undergrowth. Looking closely at the patterns, textures, and colors she encountered there led her to respond through knitting, weaving, and other forms of handwork. At times these handmade pieces were brought back into the swamp and placed temporarily among trees, grasses, and fallen branches to be photographed. Elsewhere, the photograph itself becomes a material to work upon—printed on linen, stitched, embroidered, or combined with woven elements.

Sagg Swamp brings together works made since 2012. Bark, tangled branches, reflections, lichen, and dense growth become a vocabulary of lines, patterns, and textures that reappears throughout the work.

Working with thread has long been part of Lambrecht’s practice. Her earlier work as a handknit designer gave her an understanding of pattern, repetition, and touch that years later began to inform her photographic work.

Sagg Swamp has been a sanctuary and a kind of muse for Lambrecht—a place of continual return, observation, and discovery. The work grows out of this ongoing relationship with the landscape, and the impulse to respond to what she finds there.

A native of Bridgehampton, Lambrecht grew up near Sagg Swamp and the building that is now the Bridgehampton Museum. Sagg Swamp, a preserve of more than 105 acres protected by The Nature Conservancy, is the largest and most diverse red maple swamp on the South Fork.

Sagg Swamp is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

About the Artist

Laurie Lambrecht is a visual artist whose work is held in the collections of the National Gallery of Art, the Center for Creative Photography, Guild Hall Museum, and the Parrish Art Museum. Her widely exhibited series featuring the artist Roy Lichtenstein was published as a monograph by The Monacelli Press in 2011. Her most recent monograph, Tēxēre, was published by Radius Books in 2026.