People began to understand nature when one no longer understood it.
Rainer Maria Rilke
And the night flowers open examines the evolving idea of landscape in contemporary art. Referencing Rilke’s reflection on the limits of understanding nature, the exhibition positions landscape not as a static image, but as a layered site of memory, intervention, and transformation. From urban wastelands to mystical abstractions, the participating artists articulate the tension between nature as experienced, imagined, and manipulated.
Will Gabaldon paints natural scenes from memory, softening their edges into dreamlike recollections. Yoab Vera’s textured surfaces—created with acrylic, cement, and oil—bear the marks of weather, speaking to impermanence and vulnerability. Silvia Giordani’s reductive process sculpts landscapes that feel both prehistoric and post-apocalyptic, abstract yet grounded. David Hanes channels a meditative gaze into his plein air sketches, capturing a spiritual resonance with nature. Emily Weiner bridges oil painting and ceramics, weaving symbolism from art history, theater, psychology, and science into evocative compositions. Jonathan Ryan constructs surreal terrains where ancient ruins meet industrial debris and digital landscapes, layering sifted sand and decomposed granite into textured scenes of speculative decay.
Together, the works question how we perceive, represent, and emotionally connect with landscape—be it wild, constructed, or imagined. The exhibition proposes that the landscape is no longer a passive subject, but a space of confrontation, introspection, and reinvention.
