Currently on display at the Fabric Workshop and Museum are prominent works by Chicago-based artist Nick Cave for his exhibition “Let’s C.” Cave is currently the artist in residence at the Fabric Workshop and his show can be divided into two main parts: the physical aspects (costumes, setting), as well as live performance elements.

The exhibit is mostly based around the presence of Cave’s “Soundsuits.” He compiles costumes out of amalgamations of different materials — fake hair, colored strands of fabric, stuffed animals and buttons, to name a few. These “Soundsuits” are sculptural in their own right, but serve as functional outfits and extensions of dancers’ personas in his live performances. They are playful yet bizarre, both of which are clear when observing the Frankenstein monster of Beanie Babies and plush toys in the show.

There is also a powerful element of tribalism in Cave’s work. While the “Soundsuits” are undeniably abstract and contemporary looking, they bring to mind the grass, wood and brightly painted costumes of tribal cultures from Africa to Papua New Guinea and everywhere in between; the possibilities seem as diverse as his materials. Costumes of this sort serve many implied functions, such as protective armor, disguise or storytelling traditions.

For his residency, Cave launched “Let’s C” with an opening night performance. He constructed a large, painted, hanging bamboo installation for this event, entitled “Architectural Forest.” Dangling stands of bamboo appear wildly disorienting from the front as they blend together optically. As an element of the set, the installation operates somewhat like a real forest, allowing performers to retreat amongst the vertical columns and obscure themselves. It also serves as a backdrop to dancers in the foreground.

On the first floor of the Fabric Workshop, there is a video of the performance, which is an undeniably necessary component when trying to get a handle on this work. The “Soundsuits” are interesting enough to look at stationary, but sound and movement are when they truly become alive. In the video swaths of colored fur ripple and fall along with the beat of a drum and the trills of a violin. Haunting vocals accompany the dancers as they twist about. The furry performers blur the lines between modern and ancient, human and animal, and the energy of their movements is striking.

Cave brings a lot to the table in “Let’s C” at the Fabric Workshop and Museum. The Soundsuits are skillfully assembled artifacts of contemporary visual art, which also play an integral role in live performance. Cave’s colorful exhibition bridges a number of cultural and temporal gaps, while also connecting viewers to their very basest animal instincts.

The Fabric Workshop and Museum is located at 1214 Arch St.; 215-561-8888.