Rachel Broussard, Alyssa Ellis, Heather Shillinglaw, Laurel Terlesky | We Are All Electric Beings

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Images (left to right): Laurel Terlesky, "Tenacity of Hope," 2019; Heather Shillinglaw, "Miyotamon (Prairies) [detail]," 2022; Alyssa Ellis, "Plant Vacation," 2019

Courtesy of the Gallery.

Opening reception: Thursday, October 13, 7:00 - 9:00 PM

Drawing on traditional knowledge, explanations of Western science and empathetic relationships with plants, the artists in this group exhibition elucidate the complex interconnectedness of humans and plants.

The title of this exhibition is drawn from knowledge passed from an Elder to artist Heather Shillinglaw, as she researched and created her large-scale embroideries of medicine plants foraged by her ancestors.

The electricity that animates living cells, whether mammal or vegetal, is made explicit in Laurel Terlesky's botanical drawings that illuminate when touched - a body is required to complete the circuit.

Similarly, Rachel Broussard uses plant and animal bodies cut from the pages of scientific textbooks to spell messages of environmental doom, recognizing the interdependence and vulnerability of all species in an ecosystem.

Artist and horticulturist Alyssa Ellis delves into the codependent relationship of care between humans and houseplants with her relational aesthetics artworks Plant Adoption, re-homing plants rescued and rehabilitated from dumpsters, and Plant Spa.

We Are All Electric Beings values various ways for humans to interface with plants: evolutionary, caring, exploiting, empathizing, protecting, nourishing and familial.