“Forest Bathing” Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art

“Forest Bathing” at the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art, Tarpon Springs, FL
June 27 to December 1, 2026

Whether confronting social inequities, ecological destruction, or the persistence of beauty amid crisis, my work arises from a deep belief that art can create both awareness and change. By transforming unconventional materials—human hair, salvaged wood, silk organza—into immersive environments, I engage audiences in an embodied, visceral way. I invite viewers not just to look, but to move, to navigate, and reflect on their place within larger systems of survival, destruction, and renewal.

“Forest Bathing”, my solo exhibition at Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art, Tarpon Springs Florida brings together two ongoing series, “Hair Nest” and “Lost Trees”. For two decades, I have examined the intersections of poverty, climate change and beauty in the environment. Both series mark a deliberate shift toward celebrating beauty and resilience of nature.

“Lost Trees” pays tribute to the unique magnificence of individual trees, recognizing their vital role in sustaining life and the interconnection of all living beings. Repurposed salvaged and natural materials find new meaning in sculptures and installations that merge the fragile and the enduring.

“Lost Trees” functions as both tribute and call to awareness, illuminating the critical benefits trees provide: improving air quality, mitigating climate change, conserving soil, and regulating ecosystems. Each tree tells a story—scars, burns, and growth rings shaped by drought, fire, disease, or human interference. Trees serve as emblems of resilience and hope.

The site-specific installation creates a reverent, meditative space. Drawings and sculptures of actual dead trees are wrapped in yarn with roots encased in battered pails filled with various stones; white translucent silk organza columns are hand-stitched and appliquéd with yarns and graphite rubbings of cut tree limb wounds hang from the ceiling. These floating forms evoke a ghost forest, simultaneously embodying loss and beauty. The installation is animated by stumps and delicate graphite drawings of a downed tree from Hurricane Irma. At its center, a spiral path of cast bricks—formed from shredded junk mail and my old tax records—recalls both ancient ruins and a sacred space, embodying cycles of destruction and renewal.

Walking through Lost Trees, viewers inhabit an ethereal space inviting contemplation of our interdependence with nature. The work balances grief and reverence, absence and persistence, fragility and strength.

Expanding Lost Trees emerged unexpectedly from audience response. During its debut, a viewer, arriving unsettled from a contentious work meeting, described on social media how the installation instantly calmed her. She recorded herself walking through the installation, reflecting on her day before arriving at gratitude for the peace it offered. Her experience affirmed the power of art to restore the human spirit—qualities embodied within “Forest Bathing” and “Biophilia”, emphasizing the physiological and emotional benefits of connection to nature.

The Japanese originated practice “Shinrin-yoku” or “Forest Bathing” encourages quiet immersion in the forest to reduce stress and enhance wellbeing. Similarly, Edward Wilson’s theory of biophilia proposes humanity’s affinity with the natural world is rooted in biology. By transposing these ideas into an installation context, I create environments that embody the healing potential of nature and invite audiences into deeper dialogue with the living world.

“Hair Nest” complements and extends these investigations. Each work begins with a graphite drawing of a tree section on a seven-foot panel coated with modeling paste. From the drawing emerges a branch of materials such as cast glass, paper, silk organza, and actual branch. At their base lay; tree branches, stones, cast glass and wax branches, salvaged wood fragments, and fabricated forms.

At the heart of each piece is a nest constructed from a year’s worth of my hair loss resting in a fork of the branch or at the base, collected since 1998 due to a thyroid condition. Hair carries DNA and endures beyond death, carries layered associations—beauty and adornment, loss and repulsion, memory and intimacy. Each “Hair Nest” holds deeply personal resonance while also embodying universal metaphors of fragility, continuity, and care.

Integrating “Hair Nest” into “Forest Bathing”, emphasizes the intimate bonds between human and natural systems, between bodily presence and ecological survival.

Poverty, climate change, and social inequities are not abstract issues; they are lived realities shaping our communities and our futures. My work serves as witness and catalyst, creating spaces where grief and beauty coexist, insisting on resilience even in the face of collapse.

These projects represent opportunity to deepen the exploration of art’s capacity to hold both environmental crisis and human renewal. They not only respond to our moment but can also shape cultural conversation around survival.

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