Biophilia

The Flinn Gallery is pleased to present Biophilia, an exhibition featuring the work of six women artists: Carol Bouyoucos, Loren Eiferman, Julie Evans, Heide Follin, Christina Massey, and Sui Park. Curated by Ellen Hawley, the show explores the concept of biophilia, a term coined by Harvard naturalist Dr. Edward O. Wilson, referring to humanity’s intrinsic affinity for nature and life.

Drawing inspiration from both real and imagined aspects of the natural world, these artists explore the intersection of nature, imagination, and technology. Their diverse practices reflect personal connections to the environment, sustainability, and the fragility of life. Their works are expressed through a dynamic range of 2D and 3D materials, textures, and colors. Using a range of materials and techniques—from traditional painting to upcycled sculptures—they offer unique perspectives on ecological responsibility and the evolving relationship between humans and the Earth.

Carol Bouyoucos, for example, combines photography and digital tools to create vibrant, surreal landscapes that evoke nature while incorporating technological intervention. Loren Eiferman takes a different approach, transforming discarded wood into intricate sculptures inspired by mythical 15th century plant references from The Voynich Manuscript, while weaving in a conversation about ecological healing with her series Nature Will Heal.

Julie Evans’ earthy ceramic sculptures, with their organic shapes and textures, also seek to bridge the familiar and the unfamiliar that evolve from her background as a painter. Only recently, she recently began making ceramic sculpture.

Similarly, Heide Follin’s layered botanical imagery on canvas, fabric, or wood panels, reflects her interest in ecosystems and their unseen, energetic connections. The vibrancy and texture of her abstract compositions capture the energy of growing things, evoking both their beauty and complexity. A quote reads: “My interests in eco-systems include the examinations of things that grow; their energies, gestures, movements, entanglements, textures and personalities.”

Christina Massey’s uses repurposed aluminum cans to create colorful, abstract works that merge painting, sculpture, and sustainability, incorporating glass blown elements she recently learned to create. The otherworldly, colorful abstractions she creates live somewhere between that of painting and sculpture, craft and fine art, process based and conceptual.

Lastly, Sui Park manipulates industrial materials like plastic zip ties to form dynamic, biomorphic sculptures that reflect nature’s subtle transformations. They are non–durable, disposable, trivial, inexpensive and easily consumed materials. Park writes, “I often find these moments from nature.
I think nature allows us to pause and find things that have been overlooked and are inspiring. Through these forms, I attempt to express seemingly static yet dynamic characteristics of our evolving lives. While they resemble transitions and transformations of nature, the forms are to capture subtle but continuous changes in our emotions, sentiments, memories and expectations.”

Biophilia invites viewers to pause and reconsider their relationship with the natural world, offering reimagined life forms and reinterpreted landscapes through the artists’ unique visions.

Events:

Opening reception: Thursday, March 13, 2025, from 6-8pm
Artist Talk: March 30, 2 pm

Monday, April 7, 2 – 4pm, Innovation Lab
Innovation Lab project creating a 3D printed lamp

Friday, April 11, 7pm, Berkley Theater
Friends Friday Film, Minari

Biophilia is curated by Flinn Gallery committee member Ellen Hawley. The Flinn Gallery is a non-profit organization sponsored by the Friends of Greenwich Library and is located on the second floor of the Library at 101 Putnam Avenue, Greenwich, CT. The Gallery welcomes visitors daily Mon. to Sat., 10am-5pm, Thurs. until 8pm, and Sun. 1-5pm. For more information or high-res images, please contact us.