A color stands abroad
on solitary fields
that science cannot overtake
but human nature feels.

-Excerpt from “A Light Exists in Spring” (1891) by Emily Dickinson

This group show presents works that reflect an ethereal sensibility toward nature. During a time when we were forced to stay home, away from public spaces and other people, the relationship between humans and nature shifted, causing a NATURAL TRANSCENDENCE, and a renewed sense of gratitude for the natural elements that surround us.

The exponential rate of infusion of industry and technology into human existence has created a way of life centered on busy routines in an urban culture that has segregated humanity from nature. The pandemic served as a disruptor to the societal distractions that perpetuated this way of life and provided humanity with the opportunity to re-integrate with nature. Humans began experiencing nature’s elevated effects after this period of confinement, creating daily rituals with their own green landscape. These natural environments become places where we feel a sense of spirituality, creating a deeper connection to oneself, creating a Natural Transcendence.

The lens-based artists in this exhibition have been exploring the intersection between humanity and nature even prior to the pandemic, but it is in this time of quarantine and uncertainty that some revisited these natural spaces with a new perspective, not just in vast terrains, but in domesticated landscapes, which include parks, bodies of water, quiet walks down their sidewalk and their own Backyard.

Through video or photography, these artist provides a visual literacy in their artistic practice by embedding themselves in the landscape or becoming a silent observer, but together they reveal the critical importance of nature in the life of humans, specifically the spiritual, emotion, physical and mental health of human beings.

By fusing themselves into the natural world, these artists give us a chance to feel this Natural Transcendence not just as the sublime or a sense of awe but perhaps as a wake-up call.