Connecting to Our Common Ground - Artist Panel

Brushwood Center's Connecting to Our Common Ground Art Exhibition was part of the 40th Annual Smith Nature Symposium Event Series. The 2023 Smith Nature Symposium theme, Connecting To Our Common Ground, was inspired by this year's Smith honoree Baratunde Thurston. In his PBS show, America Outdoors with Baratunde Thurston, Thurston travels the country to uncover our complex relationship with the outdoors. In this exhibition, we explored the ways that artists from different communities experience the natural world.

On September 10th the artists of this joint exhibition with Hyde Park Art Center gathered to discuss their work at Brushwood Center. Watch the full panel below to hear from the artists about their relationships to nature and the natural world, and this special exhibition!

Watch the Panel

Brushwood Center
Connecting to Our Common Ground
about the group exhibit

21850 N. Riverwoods Rd. // Riverwoods, IL 60015
September 10 - October 29, 2023

Featured Artists: Paul Branton, Peter Gray, Ken Hester, Renee Robbins, Sheri Rush, Preston Lewis Thomas, Julian E. Williams, Jr.

Brushwood Center, in partnership with Hyde Park Art Center and collector, artist, and environmental scientist Patric McCoy, presents an exhibition of artwork celebrating the different ways in which we connect with and are shaped by nature.

Gallery Hours:
M, TU, W, TR, Sa: 10am - 3pm
Su: 1pm - 3pm and by appointment

About my two artworks in the exhibit:

“One Step Beyond”, part of the “Galactic Lagoons” series, shows a variety of flora and fauna performing a dance while landing on the moon. This otherworldly environment, while rooted in patterns and shapes from the natural world is fantastical and imagined.

Paintings in the “Galactic Lagoons” series bring together celestial and aquatic spaces in order to explore natural wonder, both real and imagined. Planets are layered with microscopic forms to highlight seemingly disparate details in one composition. Bright botanical colors merge with shapes and patterns derived from biological specimens and coral reefs to amplify our curiosity.

“Anchor” is part of a narrative series called “Biota” which illustrates the beginning and end of an invented biome using a palette composed of transparent rainbow glazes, a light blue background, and shapes of burnt sienna. The artworks title “Anchor” reflects the main form holding on to something fixed, so it doesn’t get swept away by the elements. The series features invented flora and fauna and explores how they exist and evolve over time.

Paintings in the “Biota” series investigate the flora and fauna of a distinct region in order to imagine multiple views of one habitat—diving into its mysteries, exploring every corner, and considering how a place changes over time. While the work references many actual things on a human scale, these paintings also incorporate invisible elements from the molecular and cosmic levels.