Boxx Gallery’s July show, “Birds & Bees & Seeds & Trees,” features the work of wildly creative artists Renee Adams and Justin Gibbens. This highly anticipated show presents an exhibition of sculpture and paintings that reflect the artists’ deep emotional connection to nature.
Adams and Gibbens both draw inspiration from the natural world and share a profound appreciation and understanding of nature’s beautiful truths. Their work translates science into emotionally engaging interpretations of nature’s constant yet unpredictable force.
Adams uses her mixed media sculpture to investigate the complex relationships humans have cultivated with the natural world. Her most recent body of work deviates from the delicate sculptural renderings of real and imagined plants for which Adams is known.
These new works represent pared down and stylized versions of flowers, vines and leaves based loosely on Jugendstil (“young style”), a German art movement that was a spin-off of the larger Art Nouveau movement in Britain at the turn of the century.
Adams received her MFA from Central Washington University in 1999. She’s a three-time Artist Trust GAP Grant recipient, a 2021 McMillen Foundation Fellow, and curator for ArtWA Art in Public Place Program.
Gibbens uses the conventions of wildlife illustration and traditional Chinese fine-line painting in surprising and unconventional ways. His embellished and stylized images celebrate the beauty and strangeness of the natural world and serve as cautionary tales and stand-ins for our anthropocentric selves.
Gibbens received his BA in painting from Central Washington University in 1998, followed by a Scientific Illustration Certificate from University of Washington in 2003. In addition to his studio practice, Gibbens illustrates books and paints larger-scale public murals.
Adams and Gibbens are active members and supporters of the regional art scene. They are founding members of PUNCH Projects, a central Washington-based artist collective dedicated to the promotion of visual dialogue between urban and rural art communities. Adams further serves the art community as the Exhibition Coordinator at Gallery One in Ellensburg.
Adams and Gibbens live in Thorp. In their free tiime they are exploring the wilds in search of inspiration from the beauty and sometimes brutal honesty of nature.
Renee and Justin, flora and fauna. Visit Boxx Gallery in July to see how the work of Adams and Gibbens gracefully captures the spirit of our land and its creatures.
• Boxx Gallery is a non-profit art gallery and community gathering space in Tieton. Current hours are 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Visit boxxgallery.com for more information about upcoming exhibits, workshops and more.
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