Regarding the Wild
curated by
Basia Goszczynska

Regarding the Wild is a group exhibition that brings together the work of thirteen international artists responding to the natural world—as it pertains to material, phenomena and representations within mass media. The artists vary in their approaches: from the critical considerations taken up by Alison Nguyen, to attempts at reconnection typified by the work of Heidi Daehler. Others, including Sharon Norwood and Matt Arbuckle, consider how to portray wildness in formal terms or as an integral part of the creative process. Collectively, the works in this exhibition harness the frenetic energy of our time, distilling political, social and environmental chaos.

In you can’t plan a perfect day, sometimes it just happens, Alison Nguyen creates a banal epic comprised of appropriated footage of lens flare that—through sheer repetition—drains the symbol of its meaning. The piece at once critiques and eerily meditates on visual codes for authenticity, whiteness, and spirituality used in contemporary American advertisements. Employing a painted portal motif as metaphor, Heidi Daehler reflects on an inner life that is inextricably connected to a paradoxically soothing and frightening natural world while Gabriel Ramos explores a line’s expressive potential for wildness in a sculpture that bursts off the wall. Nellie Appleby’s large cyanotypes harness the frenzied energy of leaves, branches and her own body in a creative process that relies on an intimate collaboration with nature and chance.

Curated by Basia Goszczynska, Regarding the Wild brings together paintings, sculptures, cyanotypes, drawings and a video installation by Nellie Appleby, Matt Arbuckle, Jason Baerg, Heidi Daehler, Jeffrey Heiman, Delphine Hennelly, Jodie Mack, Debby Miller, Alison Nguyen, Sharon Norwood, Ben Pederson, Gabriel Ramos and Alexander Stark.