Leaf // Cloud Exhibit at Fair Folks and a Goat in NYC, Featuring Eco Fashion via Kaight Boutique

Curated by former Eco Chick contributor, Alicia Lubowski-Jahn, the Leaf // Cloud: Nature Tangible and Transcendent Exhibit at Fair Folks and a Goat goes on through this weekend, so if you haven’t made it to the Upper East Side yet, put a visit in your calendar!

Susan Benarcik, A Natural Pattern.
Dress tissue, wire, feathers, 2010.

As you scroll through this post, you’ll see some of the gorgeous naturally-inspired works of art, along with some eco fashion pieces brought to complement the exhibit for a special trunk show I attended on June 14. The creative clothes and accessories were brought in by Kate McGregor the owner of Kaight Boutiques on the LES of Manhattan and also in Brooklyn. While the clothes/accessories were only there for the event, the rest of the art is on view through the 26th of June.

The tag for the blouse below.

I really love what Alicia wrote about the inspiration for the exhibit, so I’ve included it below. All text from here to the end of the post is hers:

“The exhibition’s title is inspired by the work of British aesthetic critic John Ruskin (1819–1900). In Modern Painters, Ruskin describes the “leaf” and “cloud” as a layer covering the world sphere: “Between the earth and man arose the leaf. Between the heaven and man came the cloud. His life being partly as the falling leaf, and partly as the flying vapour.” Ruskin describes how natural elements in our surroundings exist in these two states of being—concealing the luminous glory of the heavens above and the core of darkness in the depths below—and how human life is a part of both.

This beautiful blouse by Sirius Lux is made from pineapple fiber and dyed with tea, which comes together to become a luminous glowing top that feels silk-like, but a bit tougher.

Ruskin’s text draws attention to a layered landscape of apparent and disregarded nature, as seen in this contemporary selection of art and design that highlights natural habitats as well as innovative organic and earth-friendly materials and techniques. The works of the selected artists and designers give new meaning to “environmental awareness.”

Stéphane Hubert, Edison Lamp – “Les Lignes Droites”: Reclaimed pine base with “Brou de Noix” walnut dye Reclaimed dark walnut socket cover, Walnut guitar knob (2 positions, dimmer), Industrial Stainless Steel bulb cage Edison bulb with exposed filament.

The historical reference to Ruskin also underscores the relationship between the contemporary artworks on display and nineteenth-century art historical traditions as well as pre-industrial dying and photographic printing techniques. Dana Matthews’ documentation of organic farming in Delaware County, in New York’s Catskill Mountains, suggests the pastoral idyll of French Barbizon landscape painting. Her impressions of plants in the chemical-free cyanotype process recall the work of English botanist and photographer Anna Atkins (1799–1871), who made some of the earliest and most beautiful cyanotypes of plant specimens.

John Patrick, founder of the sustainable fashion label John Patrick Organic, created an indigo painting, which is part of his wider exploration of historical natural and handmade pigments including honey, cochineal, and china ink.

This coat is handmade from the ground up. The creator/designer, Sono Kuwayama, dyed the yarns (a combination of silk, wool and cottons) and handspun them, finally forming them into the coat.

Ruskin’s “leaf” suggests elements of nature that are visible while “cloud” implies those that are less so. The exhibition beckons viewers to consider this juxtaposition. Trey Speegle’s compositions reveal a human portrait concealed by the landscape. Indeed, Speegle’s heedlessness of paint-by-number instructions and use of probabilistic and dualistic phrases evoke human choices. Although ostensibly belonging to the landscape genre, his landscapes can just as well be classified as a mode of human portraiture.

Dana Matthews, Ashley with Onion Tray (lft) and Elise Holding Lettuce (rt).
Both 20 x 24 inches, c-print.

Playing with what remains of a vanishing landscape, Lilian Cooper records the precarious physical edges of the North Atlantic coastal region. She economically renders the shoreline’s disappearance and erosion through a meager trace of sand in her Spiggies painting series. In another vein, Dana Matthews’ photographs of flowers and trees identify the natural world’s transcendent layer that exists just below the surface. Her photographs explore nature’s spiritual or energetic essences and roots.

Coaxing us to recognize and connect with the absent, the hidden, the estranged, the otherworldly, and the intangible, the nature imagery in Leaf // Cloud enhances viewers’ attentiveness to our natural surroundings.”

‘Stitched Lights’ beaded textile collar by Meiling Chen.
Part of Meiling’s collection of handmade, recycled vintage accessories.

According to their website, FF&G says, “We take an inclusive and fresh approach to art and design that integrates notions of inspiration, community, and optimism. Facilitating new connections with art, culture, and each other, through a wide variety of events is the vision of Fair Folks & a Goat, and we would love to have you join us.”

Where: 7 East 88th street, buzzer #0006
When: We are open by appointment only, each Friday from 3-7pm, and Saturday and Sunday from 1-6pm.
(Email thegoat[at]fairfolksandagoat[dot]com for a reservation.)

Studio Campana, Artecnica Transneomatic (large and small), 16.5 x 4 inches [small] and 22.3 x 3 inches [large].
Repurposed scooter tire and wicker, 2011.