Tracing a Forest

mixed media prints by Stephanie Hunder

reception: Thursday, January 18, 5–7:30 p.m., (talk at 7 p.m.)

show dates: January 22–February 22, 2024 (Monday through Thursday, 1–7 p.m.)

Stephanie Hunder is an artist who works with texture and form documented from the natural world, as well as mathematical and scientific diagrams, to create large scale works on paper and acrylic sheets. Her work is based in printmaking, but includes collage, alternative photography, and a variety of mixed media.

In this exhibition, the artist will suspend the artwork from the ceiling, creating a corridor for visitors to pass through. When standing inside the corridor, one can be immersed among the translucent, two-sided panels that include imagery drawn from nature and culture.

Regarding the exhibition, the artist has said, “In these pieces, actual plants were used to print collagraphs of native flora. Collagraph captures the fine textures and material quality we observe directly with our senses. These were layered with silkscreened and laser-cut theoretical diagrams that describe the growth of complex patterns and structure, such as tessellation forms, cellular automata, and polytopes. The visible results of natural processes (for example, leaf patterns) and the human-made designs are each beautiful in their own way, and there is a tenuous moment of insight when they coincide. On translucent bees-waxed paper suspended from the ceiling in groupings, the images form an environment of color, pattern, and dappled light, shifting in the air movements. Containing references to a forest, this work is intended to form an experiential space as a parallel encounter to a natural environment, prompting observation and reflection.”