The Gaia Factor
An exhibition celebrating the feminine in nature
Since the dawn of civilization, women have recognized their connection to the earth as life-givers and nurturers. Women artists in recent decades have realized that there is a need to re-establish this connection and to restore the sacredness of our planet. The Gaia Factor presents three women environmental artists, whose work focuses on the environment and the impact produced by human activity. Their work communicates visual metaphors combined with gathered scientific and historical data. The Gaia Factor aims to increase awareness of the changes happening to our planet and our relation to it as its inhabitants.
The artists participating in this exhibition are: Deborah Springstead Ford, Cynthia Camlin and Sandy Gellis. In addition to these artists, students, faculty members and university staff are active participants in the on-site project San Antonio River Incubation, carried out months before the opening of the exhibition. The exhibition is also accompanied by an experimental video titled “I am Gaia”, in which a group of students, a poetess and various photographers participated.
Photo detail of Deborah Springstead Ford’s Akota, metal frame with encaustic, 2010 (right); photo detail of Sandy Gellis’ San Antonio River Incubation, 2011 –2012, photo by Mélida Buentello-Olivo (lower left); photo detail of Cynthia Camlin’s Glacial Speed, nos. 61 –71, watercolor, screen print on paper, 2008 –2010 (upper left).
Special Thanks to the following people:
Lisa Castro Endresen, Jennifer Medrano, Helen Ballew, Miguel A. Olivo, Cameron Ervin-Dillard, John Puga, Bianca Arguellez, San Juanita Medrano, Suzanne Clothier, Andrea Kerns, Kathy Vargas, Roland Sul, Carolee Moore, Miguel Cortinas, the people at Home Depot, mother Earth, and all the people involved somehow in this project.
The University of the Incarnate Word provides reasonable accommodation with adequate notice. To request disability accommodation for this event, visit www.uiw.edu/ada
For more information call the University’s Art Department at (210) 829-3855 or email our department’s coordinator Roland H. Sul.
Works by Sandy Gellis, Cynthia Camlin and Deborah Springstead Ford
Curated by Mélida Buentello-Olivo