Biophilia

Biophilia: A Dialogue of Nature, Art and Science created by Christopher Marley
December 12, 2019 – August 23, 2020

Wonder at the beauty and diversity of the natural world, through Christopher Marley’s exquisite portraits of insects. Showcasing both real organisms and stunning photographs, this exhibition explores our intimate connection with insects and stimulates dialogue about our relationship.

Artist Biography:

Christopher Marley is an artist, designer, photographer and author who uses preserved natural specimens as his medium. He grew up in Oregon, then spent over a decade working in dozens of countries in fashion advertising.
Through his travels across five continents, Marley found that there were still enigmatic organisms and minerals to be discovered in every biome he explored. His life’s work is to broaden the world’s appreciation for these little-known or misunderstood elements of nature.
Marley’s passion for order and design economy is uniquely incorporated into his work with obscure organisms. It is his belief that threat of the unknown we naturally feel can be subordinated to the love for non-human life—or Biophilia—we also innately possess. Marley’s work is to remove much of the threat from obscure organisms by focusing his work on their physical design elements. When experienced as an element of a geometric composition, a texture study or a color story, even the most fearsome organisms can be experienced with fresh eyes.
Marley collects or reclaims his subjects in an environmentally sensitive manner using a worldwide network of people and institutions that share his passion for nature. With a brilliant eye for color, pattern, and texture, Marley explores the deep relationships between vastly different natural objects and the love and unity we intrinsically feel with them and nature as a whole.
He maintains design studios in Oregon and Malaysia where he develops new methods to preserve natural artifacts of all kinds. His three dimensional art pieces are sold and acclaimed worldwide. Marley’s popular first book, Pheromone (Pomegranate, 2008) focused on his artwork with insects and was listed as one the best books of the year by The Times (UK). His second book, Biophilia (Abrams, 2015) was a NY Times bestseller.

Artist Statement:

Christopher Marley

In my mind, there is little separating art and life sciences. It is like trying to extricate dance from music. Art’s purpose is to heighten our aesthetic sensibilities, to sharpen our ability to experience beauty, to empathize with those life systems we come into contact with, to derive pleasure or stimulation from our interaction with arranged elements, in whole or in part. How does nature differ? We dance with it and within it. The aesthetics of nature is the rhythm we move to.

Click here to learn more about Christopher’s work.

Exhibition Contributors:

Curator
Yukiko Stranger-Galey
Designers
Derek Tan
Simi Wei
Fabricator
Lesha Koop
Education Advisor
Kashifa Hafeez