Biophilia is a vulnerable expression of my deep love affair with the natural world. Falling in love can feel both exhilarating and dangerous. I often long to lay myself back into the loamy arms of the earth; to be consumed by the sensual workings of the ecology. That notion also scares me. Dare I risk being consumed into the web of life where mycelium could grow into my muscles or lichen embed into my skin or animals alight upon me for rest and nourishment? The wonderful thing about art is that it gives us a way to play with an alternate reality. A reality where our bodies can be enlivened by the teeming life of our magical, ordinary world. It is my hope that Biolphilia can act as an inspiration for the the viewer to go to the forest, barefooted and openhearted. Then to re-emerge “re-wilded” and re-connected.
I am happy to be sharing the space with Barbara Gal, local photo-artist extraordinaire. This is her 12th show and my first!

About the Artist: Gwen Hill-Pollara is a pioneer of the inner and outer landscapes of this life. Gwen received her Biology degree from SEMO University, with a minor in Fine Arts. She has studied extensively with the late, renowned Denver Ceramicist, Marie Gibbons, as well as other local ceramic artists. Buddhist philosophy and meditation is the connective tissue that joins “heaven and earth” in her life's endeavors. When not in the studio, she is writing with friends, coaching personal growth clients or herding chickens.

Gwen Hill-Pollara's work in clay, lyrical and moving, is an expression of a fantastical intersection of the human and natural realms. Her work aims to reveal the heroine/hero archetype. Like an excavator of the primordial landscape, Gwen uncovers the ancient origins of the tender hearted warrior.