Curated by Andi Campognone, Nature Worship, at DTLA’s MASH Gallery through the 10th of November is a beautiful and enigmatic exhibition that is also innately accessible. It’s loveliness and grace are captivating; each of the artists has created resonant images of nature the remind us of the wonder of a forest, the perfectness of a flower or tree, and the fragility of our environment. It is a truly Californian show, in its palette, its light, its evocation of natural images that seem rooted in our wonderful and seemingly vast array of natural gifts, from Joshua Tree to mountain, from desert to sea, from forest to rock.
Artists include Kim Abeles, China Adams, Kelly Berg, Kimberly Brooks, Rebecca Campbell, Terry Cervantes, Samantha Fields, Sant Khalsa, Laurie Lipton, Haleh Mashian, Catherine Ruane, Allison Schulnick, and Lisa Schulte.
Some works are precise, perfect, magical depictions such as Lisa Schulte’s gorgeous sculpture “Singularity of Light,” which literally and figuratively glows its depiction of Queen Palm seed pods or Catherine Ruane’s “Dance Me to the Edge,” a series that is both intimate and universal, a fragrant memory, a circle of sky, a seed, a winged insect.
Others are more eliptical but no less wonderful, such as Haleh Mashian’s large-scale Crayola-like rainbow trees in “Natural Rhythms,” below.
Others look to the potential loss of beauty, and even depict loss itself in a way that evokes wonder, as with Laurie Lipton’s riveting “Personal Effects,” which gives us a literal wave of waste, bottles and cans, while perched in the middle of it, a young girl is busy with her phone.
And still others give us a glimpse of humans in nature, and how it may succor and surround us, as with Rebecca Campbell’s “Night Watch.”
This is a lush and passionate show, full of beauty and sorrow, hope and loss. It would be your loss if you miss seeing it in person: go downtown this weekend and enter a special landscape indeed.
- Genie Davis; photos: Genie Davis; installation photo above courtesy of MASH Gallery