Welcome to the COLLAB Lab Virtual Art Show: Modern Flora. This exhibition explores the intersection of nature, technology, and the human spirit. Below you will find the curated descriptions for each featured work.
ARTIST’S STATEMENTS AND MORE INFO
Steampunk Kitty
Artist: Dave Martin
Statement: A whimsical blend of technology and biology, this piece features a feline guardian amidst a floral landscape. Dave explores the “Modern Flora” theme by integrating a steampunk aesthetic, complete with a subtle robotic left eye, merging the mechanical with the organic.
- Availability: Not For Sale
- Contact: Instagram @kansas_daves_art
Grace
Artist: Sami Cave
Statement: “Grace” is a quiet expression of softness and strength, capturing the gentle resilience found in nature. This mixed media piece serves as a visual metaphor for the spring flowers that insist on sprouting through sidewalk cracks, thriving against the odds.
- Availability: Available – $68 (8×10” mixed media on canvas)
- Contact: www.samicavestudio.com
Flower Power
Artist: Bret Schwalb
Statement: Schwalb offers a dark visual joke and a subversive commentary on the human drive to control the natural world. This work challenges our obsession with labeling, ordering, and packing the wild beauty of life into neat, manageable definitions.
- Availability: Not Available
- Contact: https://5pebblesllc.com/
Bumble the USBee
Artist: Raven Demerath
Statement: In this acrylic work, a “modified” bee friend navigates a changing world, searching for one of the last remaining natural flowers. It is a poignant look at the future of our pollinators in an increasingly digitized environment.
- Availability: $300 (16×20” Acrylic on canvas)
- Contact: Humble Homestead on Facebook
Desert Trip
Artist: Raven Demerath
Statement: This piece is the vibrant result of an experimental journey. Utilizing modeling paste and acrylics, Demerath explores texture and dimension to bring a tactile energy to the canvas.
- Availability: $80 (8×12” Acrylic and modeling paste on canvas)
- Contact: Humble Homestead on Facebook
Cactus
Artist: Raven Demerath
Statement: Shifting from the canvas to fiber arts, this “happy little cactus” brings the flora of the desert into the three-dimensional world through meticulous crochet.
- Availability: $40 (12” tall)
- Contact: Humble Homestead on Facebook
Better Than Ever
Artist: Ashley Hastings
Statement: This work centers on protection, healing, and the growth that follows hardship. Inspired by the aloe plant, Hastings reminds us that we don’t just recover from “hard things”—we have the capacity to return stronger and more vibrant than before.
- Availability: $260 (16″x16″, Acrylic on Canvas)
- Contact: Ashleyhastingsart.com
Error 1146: Flower Not Found
Artist: Chris Lyons (“Chumpy’s Sketchbook”)
Statement: Lyons experiments with digital perception by applying RGB shifts and glitch effects to floral imagery. The piece challenges the viewer’s reality, making the “natural” world feel like a flickering, beautiful hologram.
- Availability: Not for sale (Upcoming exhibition)
- Contact: www.chumpyssketchbook.com
Interstellar (Flora)
Artist: Tempest Diamond
Statement: Part of the Musical Ekphrasis series, this work is a visual reinterpretation of the Imperial Orchestra’s rendition of Interstellar. It imagines a cosmic flora that transcends earthly boundaries.
Listen to the music here:
- Availability: $150 (Matted, signed 13×19 limited edition print, 2 of 10)
- Contact: Instagram @tempest_makes
Poppies (and an Alien)
Artist: Michael Strangelove
Statement: A simple yet profound reminder: “You do not walk alone.” This marker-on-paper piece blends traditional floral motifs with an otherworldly companion.
- Availability: $40 CAN (plus postage/duties)
- Contact: studioyow.ca | Instagram @studio_yow
ADAM and EVE Revisited
Artist: Sara Neville
Statement: This work poses a philosophical question about the intersection of humanity and robotics. Neville explores the contrast between “real” humans and the mechanical copies created in our image, reflecting on the perfection of the original creation.
- Availability: $400
- Contact: www.saranevillerogueart.com
Transcendence: From the Cauldron I Rise
Artist: Barbara Lawrence
Statement: This powerful assemblage traces a journey from trauma to thriving. Using the lotus as a primary symbol, Lawrence incorporates personal artifacts—including rings from past relationships—to illustrate growth through struggle and the reclamation of self from a toxic environment.
- Availability: Not For Sale
- Contact: Instagram @ctwaterdancer
“First Blush” Flower Bud Necklace & Earrings
Artist: Klee Angelie Jewelry
Statement: Inspired by Impressionism, these pieces capture the “feeling” of flowers through water casting. Molten sterling silver and iridescent fireball pearls are transformed into abstract buds that evoke the romantic anticipation of spring roses about to bloom.
- Availability: $89.00 Necklace / $89.00 Earrings
- Contact: www.RafiandKlee.com
The Persistence Of Whispers
Artist: Rafi Perez
Statement: This work reclaims the dandelion, often dismissed as a weed, as a symbol of stubborn and beautiful resilience. By highlighting the plant’s ability to heal soil and thrive without permission, the artist draws a parallel to their own journey of finding strength in the “grit” of life.
- Availability: $490 (24×30” Mixed acrylic on canvas)
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