River House Arts is thrilled to present Thinking with Animals, an exhibition curated by Michigan-based artists Morgan Barrie and Jessica Tenbusch.   
 
Inspired by the work of writer and ethicist Ron Broglio and his book "Surface Encounters: Thinking with Animals and Art", the duo sought out work “that focused on animals in a way that didn’t make them ‘other’, and where the animal was more than an accessory.”

 

In addition to Barrie’s own photographic tapestries and Tenbusch’s assemblages of cast silver and natural materials, the show includes video and sculpture from Julie Bahn (New York), mixed media from Breanne Sherwood (Oregon), and large scale paintings by Emily White (Pennsylvania). 

 

Thinking with Animals runs through March 10th, 2018.

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Julie Bahn is a New York-based multidisciplinary artist born in South Korea.  Her work explores the growing rift between our quest for a higher standard of living and what’s sustainable as we tax ourselves emotionally and our environment physically in this pursuit.  

 

Bahn received an M.F.A. from the School of Visual Arts, a Post-Baccalaureate in Fine Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art, and a B.F.A. from Hongik University in Korea.

 

She has exhibited her work in her solo show Soaring, Nu-Garde Gallery (Pleasantville library), Pleasantville, NY (201 4). Her group exhibitions include Plus One, Sideshow Gallery, Williamsburg, NY (2015), Fun For Summer, Coworker Projects, New York, NY(2014). She is currently an Artist-in-residence at Chashama art program in New York, NY.

 

Morgan Barrie explores “the natural world,” both as an ideal and a reality. Her photographs are created though digital collage. Human, animal, and environmental subjects are shot completely separately from one another, and are composed into a single image almost like paper dolls or theatrical sets.

 

Based in Ann Arbor, Barrie studied at Columbia College Chicago, where she received her BA, and Eastern Michigan University, where she received an MFA in Photography in April 2013. Her work has been exhibited nationally and has earned multiple awards including a recent museum acquisition.

 

Breanne Sherwood received her MFA in Fibers from Eastern Michigan University and her BA in Photography and Ceramics from George Fox University in Oregon. She is currently back at George Fox teaching in the Art and Design Department and creating art in her small fibers studio. The Pacific Northwest serves as the inspiration for Breanne’s work. 

 

Jessica Tenbusch lives and works in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Growing up in Metro-Detroit, she shared her home with a multitude of other animals and hundreds of houseplants. Outside was always inside. She works with a variety of natural found materials and metal. Her work focuses on cycles and reverence of life and death and how all species interrelate to each other. In 201 4, she received her Masters of Fine Arts from Eastern Michigan University concentrating in metalsmithing.

 

Emily White received her BFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design (Boston, MA) with a focus in sculpture. White has received awards including the Wind Challenge, Fleisher Art Memorial; the Helen Blair Crosbie Sculpture Award, Massachusetts College of Art and Design; and she was nominated for an Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award, International Sculpture Center for two consecutive years. White has had solo exhibitions at the Philadelphia International Airport and Penn State Altoon (Altoon, PA). Her 2D and 3D work has been in group exhibitions in the US and abroad including shows at The Peabody Essex Museum (Salem, MA); The Royal Castle (Warsaw, Poland); City Hall (Philadelphia, PA); Pterodactyl (Philadelphia, PA); View (Old Forge, NY); Annmarie Sculpture Gardens & Arts Center (Solomons, MD); and Gallery 263 (Cambridge, MA). Emily White now lives in Philadelphia and works as an assistant artist for the Philadelphia Mural Arts Rpogram.