Description

While humans usually combine words and body language to express our thoughts, our modern communication devices have compressed much of our “talking” into brief phrases, acronyms, and emojis. Sometimes it can be difficult to say what we mean, even when we have days to compose the perfectly worded email. It can be even more challenging to have those conversations in person.   When we step away from our work and our screens, leaving our interpersonal anxieties behind, we have the chance to hear the wordless songs and whispers of the natural world. These experiences can be restorative. Sometimes, they simply leave us breathless - unable to find the words to express our Wonder and Awe: watching the glittering signals of fireflies as they ascend the trees on a warm summer night; listening to the chatter of birds as the morning breaks; feeling the pull of the tide as it responds to the moon. Language as we know it may not be part of these remarkable moments, but there is much being said.   Inspired by these interactions and mysterious connections, Ash Eliza Williams explores the “sentience and sensory capabilities” of the natural world. At the core of this exhibition are a series of their Communication Attempts, paintings and sculptural works in which non-human entities are caught in conversation with one another. A part of the Earth regards a part of the Moon. Two rocks blush at each other in close proximity. A cloud remembers itself as water molecules in the ocean or finds itself reflected in a small puddle on the ground.   In other works, we revel in the curious patterns and colors of animals that allow them to blend in, attract, or intimidate. We can delight in the small but significant wonders of foxes and jellyfish or the sublime beauty of moonbeams, waves, and mountaintops. We may find unexpected similarities among the animals and the worlds they inhabit - a relationship we as people can experience though it somehow feels less familiar. If we listen carefully enough to the rocks and insects, perhaps we can hear what they are saying to us and one day learn to speak the same language.   Erika Diamond / Associate Director of CVA Galleries           The Chautauqua Visual Arts gratefully acknowledges the generous financial support of The Friends of CVA