Art in Nature: Cassandra Jones at Taft Gardens

Cassandra C. Jones: Woah and Wonder
May 29 - July 31, 2021
Ojai, California

Abigail Ogilvy Gallery is proud to announce the opening reception of Woah and Wonder featuring artist Cassandra C. Jones. Hosted by The Conservation Endowment Fund (CEF), the exhibition takes place at the Taft Gardens and Nature Preserve in Ojai, CA, from May 29 - July 31, 2021. A longtime resident of Ojai herself, Jones approached Taft Gardens with the idea for a residency in which she would fully immerse herself in their 15 acres of South African and Australian horticulture for five months. Now the inaugural artist in the Art in Nature Residency, her culminating collage, and wallpaper works will be on view in the Taft Art Studio for a two-month exhibition.

The series she has been developing during her residency started in 2018, a year after the Thomas Fire burned over 500 homes and structures in the surrounding areas of Ojai. When she and her family returned from evacuation and saw the charred landscape surrounding their home, she was interested in what was left behind. All of the technology, plastics, and modern-day conveniences that burned, rose into the air in enormous clouds of smoke and rained down as harmful chemicals and nano plastics, concealed in a blanket of ash. She soon learned that humans have dusted the entire planet with tiny plastic particles, and scientists are now starting to understand how plants are absorbing them on a subatomic level. The resulting collage works depict the natural world, inspired by the flora of Taft Gardens, infused with the physical stuff of humanity.

“I spend just as much time walking alone on the grounds as I do in the studio, which has been time well spent. This last year has been a challenge on many levels. My time in the garden has been a kind of mental mending. Watching intently as a season changes and witnessing new life emerge on a macro, and a micro-scale is cathartic. The garden has new gifts every day. There is so much I would never have absorbed with one or two passes.” - Cassandra C. Jones

Contact us directly for more information about the May 29th opening reception of Woah and Wonder: abigail@abigailogilvy.com

About the Art in Nature Residency at Taft Gardens:

Taft Gardens are a one-of-a-kind experience that have inspired visitors for over 30 years. Art In Nature is a new program capturing the spirit of our long-standing mission to “Explore the relationship between humans and their environment.” The Taft Gardens Art in Nature programming works to illuminate the vision of growth and understanding of ourselves and others through the experience of beauty in the natural world. The Art in Nature Residency provides artists the opportunity to develop and explore new works with a broadly environmental and ecological focus. CEF/Taft Gardens invites the residency artists to explore the relationship of humans to their environment. Artists are encouraged to depict the variety of cultural and natural resources of the local ecosystem and wildlife. 

Residencies include the artist's use of the Historic Art Studio to work and draw inspiration from the surrounding grounds and open space. The residency will conclude with an exhibition of work, with 20% of the proceeds of sales going to the CEF/Taft Gardens.  - Courtesy of https://www.taftgardens.org/art-in-nature