March 30 - June 8, 2013

Fables of the Eco-Future presented artists who are preoccupied with the natural environment. These artists are storytellers and innovators. Some have preternatural abilities to predict concerns that will soon encroach on our horizons. They might envision an alternative future for the land, making plans and designing prosthetics for a new nature. They might develop spaces and objects in support of a healthy world. They speak of thriving ecosystems or devastated landscapes, expressing themselves through fantasy, reality, or an inventive combination of both.

Fables of the Eco-Future, organized by Lisa Alembik, invited visual artists and writers, all fellows of the Hambidge Center, to present works in a variety of visual media and the written word. Sketches and ceramics, maquettes and models, plans, essays, song lyrics and poetry are included in the exhibition.

In an extension of the exhibition, artist and poet Steve Lautermilch presented his work in the Rabun County Public Library. Residing in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, the artist often travels to the western United States to capture images and gather inspiration. Lautermilch’s elegant and evocative dialogue between word and image rises from his profound connection with the natural world. Experiential, ephemeral and visual, his words merge with the picture plane.

Check out the fabulous catalog of the show. Created by curator Lisa Alembik and graphic designer Joey Hannaford, both Hambidge Fellows, this lovely hard-cover book features all the artwork and writings from the exhibition. It also got a great review in Burnaway.

Artists:
Juliet Araujo, Linda Armstrong, Misty Bennett, Lucinda Bunnen, Marcia R. Cohen, Eilis Crean, Stephanie Dowda, Brent Fogt, Rich Gere, Bryan Hiveley, Cecelia Kane, Judith Berk King, Diana Kingsley, Judy Lampert, Steve Lautermilch, Susan Maakestad, Margaret McCarthy, Donna Mintz, Virginia Parker, Allen Peterson, Julie Püttgen, Ryan Rusinski, Tommye Scanlin, Michele Schuff, Bob Thomas, Marie Weaver, Judy Winograd

Writers:
Gregory Byrd, Carolyn Jackson, Libby Falk Jones, Leatha Kendrick, George Ella Lyon, Mariana McDonald, Donna Mintz, J. Stephen Rhodes, Kelly Wacker, Dana Wildsmith

Above image: “In the Queen’s Room” (detail) by Julie Püttgen