Consilience of Art & Science Reception

I attended the opening reception for the Consilience of Art & Science exhibit at the Pence Gallery in Davis on Friday, January 10. Davis is home to a large University of CA campus and a thriving art community, so openings during Art Walk are vibrant and fun.

This exhibit is a partnership between the gallery and the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program. The jurors are both artists: Chris Daubert is a sculptor/installation artist and Professor of Art at Sacramento City College; Anna Davidson teaches at UC Davis in the Art/Science Fusion Program and is a PhD candidate in Plant Science. Both were on hand to share their thoughts about the pieces selected for the exhibit.

All mediums were accepted for this art exhibit. The large installation below presents the text of Charles Darwin’s Origin of the Species printed by hand on what appeared to be hand-made paper, although I found it hard to confirm the actual words.

This is a single sheet of folded paper.

My piece, Woodwardia Wonder, is the only piece constructed of fabric in the exhibit. A nice surprise! The Woodwardia fern is one example of the quasi-self-similar fractal as defined by mathematicians. Leaves repeat – though not exactly – in ever-smaller forms.

This piece is part of a series which focuses on native California plants.

The exhibit will be up through February 28, 2014. Additional exhibits at the gallery include Judy Neal: Rhythm of Color, through January 26, and Mad Housewife, paintings of Leslie DePratt through February 16. See more details in the right column or through link for Pence Gallery above.