ETERNAL FOREST
Exhibition of works produced by Evgenia Emets and
Jean Brennan in the forest connecting the
Spirit Sanctuary and Black Kettle Trails in Whallonsburg
12-3pm Exhibition at Whitcomb’s Gallery
See the work produced during the Split Rock Arts residency.
The exhibition will also be at Whitcomb’s on Saturday, July 27. CLICK HERE for information on the Gathering at the Spirit Sanctuary and Meet and Greet with the artists.
Evgenia Emets creates Eternal Forest art experiences: site-specific art-poetry experiences and trails calling for a deeper ways of relating to the more-than-human natural world. They usually have maps, audio guides and can be done in groups or solo. A guided contemplative walk, through natural landmarks, art and poetry, a practice of connecting with the land - the experience of an old-growth forest.
Eternal Forest is an invitation to reconsider our fundamental relationship with the forest. Eternal Forest invites the audience to think how we could transform the currently dominant ‘extractive’ relationship with the forest and why this is an urgent and necessary step. How can we contribute to creating a biodiverse environment, which requires decades or centuries, a time beyond our lifetime, to mature and thrive? How do we value something, which only our great grandchildren and their ancestors will be able to see fully developed? Philosophical, artistic, spiritual, religious, economic - what are various perspectives - and how can we integrate them so that we can all work together to preserve and rebuild biodiverse forest ecosystems?
Meet the Artists
Based in Portugal, Evgenia Emets is an international visual artist and poet who creates films, books, and large-scale installations addressing forest ecology and community. Her project @eternalforestglobal is a network of 1,000 forest sanctuaries to be protected for 1,000 years through art and community.
Eternal Forest has been presented in Portugal, Spain, Mexico and the UK: Bienal de Coruche in 2019 and CI.CLO / Bienal Fotografia do Porto, Roots & Seeds, Quo Artis, Barcelona in 2021, Pela Terra, an encounter for earth and community in Idanha-a-Velha, Portugal in 2023 and at Municipal Gallery of Porto, Crystal Palace Gardens in 2024.
Recent solo shows: 2022, National Museum of Natural History and Science and Botanical Garden of Lisbon, 2023, Forest Time, Estufa Fria and Monsanto Forest Park in Lisbon, 2024 Rewilding Time, Hall of Biodiversity – Ciência Viva Center, Porto.
As an interdisciplinary artist, Jean Brennan is interested in site-specific opportunities for experiential learning and being in place. Recurring themes include a fascination with plants, phenomenology, and color. Her mediums are video, printed matter, and installation. Her work has been shown in New York, Amsterdam, Nevada, California, and the Hudson Valley. She teaches in the Graduate MFA Communications Design Department at Pratt Institute and runs a small imprint called “Fruit&Rot.” In 2022, in collaboration with the Eddy Foundation, she founded “Split Rock Arts,” an Essex County-based residency that provides time and space for eco-artists to develop their practice surrounded by the natural beauty of the Adirondacks.
Organized by Split Rock Arts in collaboration with the Eddy Foundation and the Whallonsburg Grange. Thank you to Champlain Area Trails (CATS) and Spirit Sanctuary for their support.
This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by the Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts.
