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BIO/ME is an exhibition of four women artists from Missoula, Montana, who work in the mediums of printmaking, painting, photography, mixed media and ceramics. The artworks in this show explore our human connection with the earth, especially the relationship of the human body and the terrestrial body. How do we see ourselves in nature, and how does it show us who we are?
As we look towards finding solutions to environmental problems, an important step in healing involves reconnecting ourselves to nature. This includes finding appreciation and wonder in the natural world around us; finding metaphors and poetry in the earth that we can learn from and live by; and seeing ourselves in and building relationships with the land. The artworks in BIO/ME explore these themes and show us the intimate connection that humans and nature have.
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Public Opening Reception: Friday, August 2, 5-9pm // Pieces will be available in the online gallery as well
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This show is curated by Emily Elliott Gergasko:
Emily Elliott Gergasko is working towards her master’s degree in Gallery and Museum Management at Western Colorado University. She has called Missoula, Montana home for the past ten years. Emily has worked in the gallery and museum field, as well as in retail home décor and stationery. She has a background as a songwriter and photographer and has exhibited her artwork and created two albums. The arts and nature are what make her world come alive. She enjoys bringing artists together and creating exhibitions.​​​​
a. elliott
​a. elliott attended Moore College of Art in Philadelphia, Pa. Originally from New Jersey, she has settled in Missoula after living in Santa Fe, New Mexico for eight years. a. elliott has worked in the picture framing industry for over twenty years. Her work can be seen at Art Attic. She has shown her work around Missoula at First Fridays and Galleries such as The Catalyst, The Downtown Dance Collective, Break Espresso, Black Owl Tattoo, Dana Gallery, Radius Winter Show.
Artist Statement:
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We Are Earth Walking
Both the human body and the earth are composed of chemical elements. 99%of the human body is made of six elements, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, calcium, and phosphorus. All of them are found in common with planet earth. Our home, the third planet from the sun, provides us with life and protection from space. It is the only known place in the universe that hosts life.
Earth My Body, Water My Blood, Air My Breath and Fire My Spirit is an ancient, traditional indigenous chant, poem or song of acceptance and knowledge of our interdependence. It has been described as a Native American song, a Pagan song, a hippie song, a Wiccan song, a Christian song, a song from Judaism, a Spanish song, an ancient Egyptian chant, a Babylonian chant, and a yoga chant. Four simple lines sung four times.
We are pieces of the living planet, awakened into self awareness, sharing the very elements of our bodies with all of life. What we do to the earth we do to ourselves.
Katie Machain
Katie Machain is a Missoula based artist and a fourth generation Montanan. She graduated from The University of Montana in 2013 with a BFA emphasized in printmaking. Inspired to work in the professional art scene, Katie sought a job as a professional picture framer, and was hired by the Art Attic Framing and Design in 2014. She has developed a passion for design and custom frame building, and enjoys finding ways to incorporate her artwork into the framing. In addition to working full time, and being a spare-time artist, Katie is also a happily married mother of two busy boys. Artwork has remained a way for Katie to consistently connect with her community despite a busy life.
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Artist Statement:
Katie Machain is a relief printmaker who enjoys exploring the relationship between humans and nature. In her more recent series, coined the Anatomy-Scapes, Katie paired parts of the human anatomy with the Earth’s likely counterparts, either by form or function. For example, our lungs are metaphorically related to trees, and the structure of our finger bones are visually related to bamboo stalks. In this way, we are all much closer to each other than we could ever imagine.
To bring more intimacy to her work, Katie began making small one-of-a-kind assemblages. These pieces are carved, much like the blocks that produce the relief prints, and then hand painted and assembled together with hinges. Their meaning remains hidden while closed, but once opened we learn something intimate about the piece. A metaphor for the human experience, and a reminder to get curious every once in a while.
Lindsey Tucker
Lindsey Tucker is an Idaho-born Missoulian with a passion for community-building via the arts. Intrigue into cultural expression and the relationships between self & other and function & aesthetics fueled her studies (BFA in ceramics & photography and BA in anthropology at University of Montana) and continue to inspire her and her art-making.​
Artist​ Statement:
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For this exhibit, I have offer a few pieces that speak to the illusion of separation between human and "nature," ie. landscape, other animals (humans included), and microbes.
Penelope Baquero
Penelope Baquero was born and raised in Colombia. She has dedicated her adult life to living authentically as an interdisciplinary artist, lover of the natural world, traveler, and teacher, participating in alternative education endeavors that support ecological and diversity affirming ways of being in the world. Her commitment to living a life that challenges norms, has led her to live in extraordinary places, be a self taught artist, and participate in regenerative living projects internationally and in Missoula, Montana where she has lived and formed a family since 2000.