Presenting “Fables of Green,” an art exhibit of ecology collages by Brenda Miller Slomovits. Stephanie Douglass in the Ann Arbor Observer writes of Slomovits’s work: “Beautiful and moving her collages not only evince a synergy among pretty and patterned scraps of paper, but also reveal Slomovits to be an impassioned observer of the world. She has an eye for detail, a taste for complexity, and an ear for the natural world’s myriad voices.”
“Fables of Green” is up at Matthaei Botanical Gardens through Labor Day 2019. 1800 N. Dixboro Rd., Ann Arbor 48105.
Meet the artist! July 23, 6-7:30 pm, Matthaei Botanical Gardens, 1800 N. Dixboro Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48105
Matthaei-Nichols hosts a reception for Brenda Miller Slomovits, the artist who created the works in “Fables of Green,” a series of ecology collages, the current exhibit at Matthaei Botanical Gardens. Free.
Artist’s Statement:
The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.— Rachel Carson, The Sea Around Us, 1951
“The words of writers like Rachel Carson, Edward Abbey, Jim Harrison, Barbara Kingsolver, Jane Goodall, and Annie Dillard have inspired me, moved me, and evoked images of nature for which I’ve always felt grateful. They’ve given words to feelings that I’ve long struggled to express. Over the years, the news of each extinct species, strip-mined mountainside, and warning of climate change have often left me feeling helpless and questioning what I could do. At the same time, for many years now, in my work as an artist, I’ve found myself drawn to creating these “ecology collages.”
Vermillion Cliffs National Monument, Utah & Arizona, 2016
Latitude 2, 1999.
Echinacea, 1998.
Auyiuttuq National Park, Canada, 2016.
A few years ago, I attended a presentation at Ann Arbor’s Michigan Theater that addressed the potential impact of Line 5 under the Straits of Mackinac. At that event someone asked, “What can we do”? The answer was obvious yet profound – to use our voices in whatever form, in whatever medium that expresses our personal strength. It was confirmation that this work is how I can help… perhaps even in ways that I may never know.
Just as I assemble countless small pieces of paper to create my images, I picture the contributions of innumerable people, each giving in their own way, to help preserve our planet for our children.”
Artist’s Bio: Brenda Miller Slomovits has been studying and working in the fields of art and design for much of her adult life. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Eastern Michigan University in 1987. Her work has been exhibited locally and published on covers of the Ann Arbor Observer. From 1998 to the present time, Brenda has also held positions supporting parents and families in UM Mott Newborn Intensive Care and Ronald McDonald House of Ann Arbor.
