ART OF NATURE
ART OF NATURE 2022: LIGHT AS A FEATHER
Exhibition Opens Saturday, April 23, 2022
Selected artists will receive an $800 stipend to execute the artwork
This year’s theme – LIGHT as a Feather – indicates our particular interest in artists who engage lightly with the land. With an emphasis on co-creation [and not competition] with nature, we hope artists will invoke the invisible histories and subtle energies felt when spending time, unplugged, in the preserve. Feathers not only refer to Herons and other birds, but also honor the spiritual presence and heritage of the Creek (Muscogee) and Cherokee Indians who lived here 200 years ago. With a highway buzzing beside us, we can learn a lot from the way their cultures left few permanent marks on this remarkable 30-acre riverscape.
Blue Heron Nature Preserve is seeking proposals from contemporary artists to design projects for the eighth annual Art of Nature outdoor exhibition. Honoring the beauty and wonder of the 30-acre City of Atlanta nature preserve, this seven-week outdoor installation is directed this year by Blue Heron Artist-in-Residence K. Tauches.
- Projects must be an outdoor piece that is integrated within the Preserve.
- Artworks may be site-specific.
- Durability/ephemerality in outdoor conditions must be considered.
- Preference will be given to artworks that incorporate ephemeral elements like sunlight, water, or wind into their designs.
- $25.00 to submit.
Submissions are due on Monday, March 21st, 2022, 11:59 pm EST. Decisions will be announced by March 23rd. Selected artists will receive an $800 stipend to execute the artwork.
ART OF NATURE 2021: INTO THE WILD
The Art of Nature exhibition was April 24th – June 12th. Curated by artist Steven L. Anderson. Art of Nature continues our mission of providing free access to great art in a great setting for all.
Light Catcher
Chloe Alexander
This cyanotype installation was created in collaboration with nature and the sun, using ultraviolet sunlight to reveal each image. These compositions were subject to environmental factors, including clouds, wind, and the found local flora used to form silhouettes, working together to generate unique and slightly abstracted imagery. The varying intensities of blue, which shift with the filtered light and cast shadows, are meant to symbolize the ephemeral nature of our environment, where nothing lasts forever. Instead processes work in symbiosis in a constant cycle of birth, life, death, decay, and regrowth.
Forest Mushroom
MFGOODS featuring Alice Lim & Eddie Farr
Forest Mushroom is an outdoor installation comprised of three mushroom sculptures. The caps of each mushroom have a layer of tree bark while the stems are wrapped in vines. The use of these natural elements is to encourage the growth of moss and mushrooms on the sculptures over time.
At dusk an internal light in each mushroom will be activated emitting a soft glow of warm light which will provide a relaxing night-time experience for visitors.
Elements: “Jingle Chimes” & Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Spirit
Roxane Hollosi
Air, Earth, Fire, Water and Spirit, are the elements of the world in us and around us. At our wildest…this is the core of who we are. The 5 sculptural chimes are based on the symbols for these elements. Jingle cones are incorporated into the pieces as a homage to our Native American sisters and to reimagine their ancient way of praying and healing. Historically, these cones were sewn onto the dresses of Native American women and mimicked the sound of rain when they danced. The chimes will be hung in the trees to be searched out as people walk “Into the Wild” along the nature paths.
With Whom We Walk This Earth
Dena Haden
This work emphasizes our human connection to the natural world and re-envisions what this relationship has the potential to become. Using alpaca fiber as material literally and figuratively weaving a narrative of innovation and environmental awareness.
I view this process of creation as a meditation and an appreciation of the “rawness and beauty of existence.” This body of work and process takes me back to a simpler time when humans existed in harmony with nature and embodied the true meaning of sustainability. My utilization of hand weaving techniques act as an homage to cottage industries of past eras, when fibers were hand spun and processed to make essential goods like nets and textiles.
Curriculum for wi(l)dness: Light (Dance Performance)
Erin Palovick & Mary Grace Allerdice
In Western, industrialized culture we have literally written ourselves out of the definition of nature. But the reality of our human condition is that we are interdependent with nature. On this theme, Mary Grace Allerdice and Erin Palovick will perform two live movement scores throughout the Blue Heron Nature Preserve to honor extraordinary presence. Each performance is intended as an offering, a map, towards our connectedness—a performance for the reciprocity and interdependence, which is Life. To be wild is to understand that our entanglements and mapmaking are all happening within those of the wi(l)der world.
Faery Boats
Corrina Sephora
The Faery Boats are a creation of the imagination, from the soul. As a young child, I sat with my grandfather, who was a retired sea captain as he made ship models.
In my adventures in the forest, I created Faery Boats out of leaves and sent them down the creeks and forest streams. Upon visiting the Blue Heron Nature Preserve, the creek beds reminded me of my childhood streams.
Boats are common in my work, as they live in that already magical space, the surface of the water, crystals hold similar magic and mystery to childhood imagination.
Floating Wild and Free Toward Home
Sachi Rome
This piece speaks to the need for people to find a way back home to grounded safe space. The feathers lead you toward a simple marker of rocks, crowned with succulents representing our need to find the familiar while we venture forth back into our wilder surroundings. Feathers of freedom floating above, represent a need to fly high and explore and yet they lead us back to something safe.
Heart of the Forest
Shannon Willow
Heart of the Forest conveys the planet holds my heart, pulsating in Mother Earth’s rhythm. This living sculpture is a loving symbol for deep appreciation for all the beauty and purpose in nature. All things wild serve a purpose and are our allies. All things wild support a healthy, living planet that can continue to sustain life for generations to come. May we all be fierce protectors of Mother Earth. Let us re-wild our hearts and yards, let us restore the sacred reciprocity with Mother Earth. The time is now to re-wild everything, and it starts with our hearts.
Regrowth
Student Exhibition: Eve Harclerode, Annie Kim, McKenna Weinbaum & Scarlett Wills
Regrowth is a wire sculpture made to hang over a waterfall in the Blue Heron Nature Preserve. It consists of vines stretching across metal bars, and recreations of various fauna in wire as well. It is meant to visually interpret this year’s theme of “Into the Wild” by examining how the force of nature will inevitably conquer manmade structures. The organic form recreated in a more industrial, obviously foreign material such as the metal wire helps to bring the conceptual juxtaposition into the tangible piece itself.
