The Eric Dean Gallery at Wabash College will feature “Errant Ecologies,” an exhibition featuring the work of Melissa Haviland, Allison Maria Rodriguez and Elizabeth Rose, Sept. 7 through Nov. 19.
An opening reception will be held from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Sept. 8 at the gallery.
“Errant Ecologies” explores environmental change, interconnection and the ways beauty can help people navigate and discuss ecological crises. The three artists work across print, video and immersive installation, examining landscapes, species and materials and their histories of transformation, fragility and survival.
Haviland’s work uses blue as both a material and metaphor, drawing on the history of “bluing” as a process of correction, enhancement and concealment. Her print installation, “The Flood,” surrounds viewers in blue, drawing them into its depths as it overwhelms and saturates the space.
Haviland also transforms old blue tarps into crocheted forms that evoke ponds, storms, seas and safety nets. The work recasts a material associated with emergency and shelter as a site of beauty and unease.
Rodriguez’s digital video installation, “Earth Oracles,” creates a contemplative environment centered on moving-image portraits of endangered species. Drawing on the visual language of prayer cards and oracle decks, the installation presents the animals as beings of reverence and asks viewers to reconsider where guidance might be found.
Rose’s layered printed works trace ecological connections across distant geographies, highlighting climatic shifts, geological formations and delicate environmental details that link seemingly separate places. Referencing her experiences traveling through altitudinal zones to alpine areas and across latitudinal lines, Rose creates work that connects geographically disconnected landscapes by focusing on their shared ecologies.
Each artist also will spend time in residence on the Wabash campus, engaging with the local community and campus through their creative work. All residency events are free and open to the public.
Haviland will be on campus Sept. 6-9. She will give a gallery talk at noon Sept. 7 to discuss her installation. During the Sept. 8 opening reception, she also will lead a drop-in workshop focused on tarp exchange and crochet.
Visitors can bring an old blue tarp to Wabash and exchange it for a new one. Haviland will recycle the old tarp into crocheted artwork. Participants also can learn to crochet a doily with Haviland and one of her students.
Rodriguez will be on campus Oct. 1-14. She will give an artist talk at noon Oct. 1 and lead an “Animal Altars” 3D collage workshop at 6 p.m. Oct. 7.
Rose will be on campus Nov. 15-20. She will give a gallery talk at noon Nov. 16 and lead a “Printing with Plants” workshop at 7 p.m. Nov. 17.
The “Printing with Plants” workshop will allow participants to use natural materials to create unique art through embossed printmaking. No experience is required.
Haviland is a printmaking-based installation artist who lives and works in Athens, Ohio. Her work has been featured in solo, two- to three-person and group exhibitions, and she has received four Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Awards. She has participated in artist residencies in the United States and India.
Rodriguez is a first-generation Cuban-American interdisciplinary artist who primarily works in video installation. Her work focuses on climate change, species extinction and interconnection. She also works as an independent curator and arts educator.
Rose is an artist and printmaker whose work explores species distribution, range maps and glacial movement as ways of tracing connections within shared landscapes and ecosystems. Her research-driven practice includes writing, photography, prints, collages and site-specific installations. She has participated in residencies and fellowships throughout North America and Central and Eastern Europe.
“Errant Ecologies” will be on display at the Eric Dean Gallery at Wabash College through Nov. 19. The exhibition and related events are free and open to the public.
