From March 11 to April 19, the Emily Davis Gallery at the Myers School of Art is home to the Life Out of Balance show. Featuring the art of nine artists, the show raises the question: How will we find a way to live within balance?
Life Out of Balance showcases the work of a Myers Schools of Art alumni, Maria Uhase. Her work explores the transformation of nature and animals and plant life in distress.
Arnold Tunstall, the curator of the exhibition and the director of the University Galleries, explained that the exhibition began with Uhase’s art. “This whole exhibition came from her and her work and her concern with the natural world. Then I found eight other artists in the region who also had those same concerns and skills,.” Tunstall said.
Uhase even created a piece specifically for the Life Out of Balance show. Titled As the Garden Grows, it is an ink drawing with ink wash that Tunstall describes as beautifully painstaking and mind-boggling.
The show further explores the natural world, with themes of climate change, loss of habitat and extinction. Northeast Ohio artists Meryl Engler, Lori Kella, Benjamin Lambert, Michael Loderstedt, Eva Polzer, Ron Shelton and Corrie Slawson all contributed work, visual art and poetry, relating to these ideas. Additionally, works from Texas-based ceramicist Ariel Bowman are on loan from the Hieronymus Collection.
Tunstall explained that he had been following many of these artists for a long time, looking for a way to exhibit their work. He was finally able to use this show to bring together the works of these technically accomplished artists who also have concerns for the Earth and the natural world.
The show itself is thoughtfully set up, utilizing both levels of the Emily Davis Gallery and showcasing not only the art, but also loans from the biology department and the Cummings Center. Dr. Lara D. Roketenetz, the director of the Field Station, selected several birds and other natural elements for display in the gallery.
With these collaborations, the show is fully brought together by many on and off campus organizations. While the Emily Davis Gallery, the University of Akron Field Station, and the Cummings Center for the History of Psychology all played large roles in the set-up of the gallery, other organizations continue to keep the gallery’s themes alive. The gallery suggests investigating the Environmental Action Club, the Urban Agriculture Club, Summit Metroparks, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Cleveland Metroparks, and the Greater Akron Audubon Society to learn more about the preservation of the natural world.
Ultimately, Life Out of Balance aims to make the viewers think deeper about these local ecologies. The hidden narratives of danger, stress, and resilience in local nature are clear in every piece exhibited. As we exit the winter season and begin to watch the world bloom again, this exhibition is the perfect way to rethink our views of the natural world.
The gallery described a hope for the viewer’s takeaway of the gallery: “Despite this imposed sickness of our world, we can also share an appreciation for the healing, adaptability and conservation efforts that can help us achieve a healthier future for all living things.”
Life Out of Balance is on display for one more week. Be sure to stop by Folk Hall before April 19 to see these intriguing works. Tunstall explained, “A lot of these objects don’t translate that well digitally because they are so beautiful and technically really incredible, and you need to lay your eyes on them…If anyone reading the Buchtelite is concerned about the natural world, this is a great exhibition to come find, and nine artists to come follow and connect with.”
For more information about events surrounding the Myers school of Art, visit their website for upcoming events.
