Natasha Bowdoin

Lunar Spring
January 28 – March 12, 2017

In Lunar Spring, Natasha Bowdoin informs and transforms our experience of nature in large-scale works on paper, drawings and collages made during her time as art-in-resident, and a site-responsive sculptural installation.

For this solo exhibition, Bowdoin takes inspiration from literature’s magic realism and surrealism, including the short stories, “Distance of the Moon” by Italo Calvino and Bruno Schulz’s “Spring.”

In three gallery settings, she imaginatively evokes what Schulz describes as “the inspired script” of spring, finding source material in the organic qualities of literature and the writers’ unique interpretations of natural processes. As the title suggests, the exhibition evokes notions of transformation. Detailed ink drawings reference scientific depictions of the moon in various phases and intricate insects abstracted by the particulars of the artist’s own hand. Likewise, the installation made of interwoven cut paper, wood and vinyl is comprised of organic forms, calligraphic motifs, and hidden text, the layers of which seem to have germinated from within the gallery.

The vibrant patterns and repetitious mark-making in this culmination of imagery express the energy and urgency manifest in the physical world, and speak to the continuous human need to interpret it.

An artist talk and opening reception took place Friday, February 3. Lunar Spring runs from January 28 to March 12.

This exhibition is guest curated by Melissa Messina.

Natasha Bowdoin: Lunar Spring from Visual Arts Center of Richmond on Vimeo.

Listen to Natasha Bowdoin’s interview with Paige Goodpasture on WRIR’s The Creative Habit.

Image Credit: Natasha Bowdoin, Luna Moth 1, 2016, Gouache, acrylic and ink on paper, 71″ x 47″
Photo by Nash Baker, image courtesy of the artist