“Some speak of a return to nature. I wonder where they could have been.”
~Frederick Sommer
By Elin Spring
During troubling times, people often seek refuge in nature. The reverberating trauma of the Covid pandemic, escalating perils of climate change, and cacophony of our current political conditions have provided an abundance of reasons to flee society. As artists of every ilk continue to take our cultural pulse, it comes as no surprise to see so many turning to the natural environment. Expressions running the gamut from reverence to restoration comprise two solo exhibits, “A Murmur in the Trees” by Suzanne Révy and “Ecologies of Restoration” by DM Witman, on view at the Danforth Art Museum in Framingham, MA through January 26th, 2025. Also on view is Ileana Doble Hernandez’s multimedia exhibit addressing gun violence, “My Dear Americans, It’s Not Enough.”
“Tobin Woods” by Suzanne Révy, 2022 from the series A Murmur in the Trees, courtesy of the artist and the Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, MA.
Emily Dickinson’s gift for discerning “a murmur in the trees” is echoed in Suzanne Révy’s astute perceptions amongst the historic, wooded landscapes surrounding Walden Pond in Massachusetts. Révy’s rhythmic, multi-panel photographs guide us across the land and through the seasons.
Feature Image: “Fog Along the Concord River” by Suzanne Révy, 2019, from the series A Murmur in the Trees, courtesy of the artist and the Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, MA.
“Bench, Spencer Brook Reservation by Suzanne Révy, 2020, from the series A Murmur in the Trees, courtesy of the artist and the Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, MA.
Her gentle light, subtle palette, and often mist-infused images create a lyrical cadence that resonates with the writings of Transcendentalists like Henry David Thoreau. Pathways and rivers suggest journeys, trees and leaves intimate gestural qualities and our human lifetime becomes subsumed by geologic time. Révy’s use of selective focus and stuttered partial repetitions from frame to frame confer depth of field, drawing the eye back and forth, in and out. The overall effect is undulating and transfixing.
“Frost in Wetlands to Newbury Field” by Suzanne Révy, 2021, from the series A Murmur in the Trees, courtesy of the artist and the Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, MA
“First Snow, Hartwell Pond” by Suzanne Révy, 2021, from the series A Murmur in the Trees, courtesy of the artist and the Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, MA.
This feeling is reiterated in Révy’s video “Murmurs” mounted near the Danforth Museum’s entrance. The gallery installation invites viewers to immerse themselves in individual photographs and also to make a passage through the seasons from a centrally placed bench, enveloped by Matt Malsky’s ambient soundtrack, lulling us into a sanctuary of solace.
“Boulder, Concord River” by Suzanne Révy, 2022, from the series A Murmur in the Trees, courtesy of the artist and the Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, MA.
“Ecologies of Restoration No. 20” by DM Witman, 2023-2024, Archival pigment photograph from hand-cultured salt crystals, courtesy of the artist and Danforth Art Museum, Framingham, MA.
DM Witman’s curiosity and awe for the natural world spurred her to study Environmental Science and continues to guide her elemental approach to making photographic images, videos and installations. Through her experiential and experimental methods, she responds to the accelerating changes in our climate that have precipitated tragic ecological losses around the globe.
“Ecologies of Restoration No. 22” by DM Witman, 2023-2024, Archival pigment photograph from hand-cultured salt crystals, courtesy of the artist and Danforth Art Museum, Framingham, MA.
As a part-time resident of coastal Maine, Witman has experienced the erosion of New England’s coastlines, impacting protective salt marshes and species habitats, along with people’s homes. Such seismic shifts inevitably alter the way we human inhabitants relate to our surroundings and have psychological repercussions known as “ecological grief.” In her series “Ecologies of Restoration,” Witman explores healing and resiliency in the face of coastal damage by creating images that engage salt as a metaphor. Salt is present everywhere, in the earth, in the sea and in our own bodies. Its ubiquity and stability endow it with the capacity to renew.
“Ecologies of Restoration No.19” by DM Witman, 2023-2024, Archival pigment photograph from hand-cultured salt crystals, courtesy of the artist and Danforth Art Museum, Framingham, MA.
“Ecologies of Restoration No. 14” by DM Witman, 2023-2024, Archival pigment photograph from hand-cultured salt crystals, courtesy of the artist and Danforth Art Museum, Framingham, MA.
Culturing dozens of common salts, Witman mixes solutions that she allows to crystallize on paper, crafting prints that highlight form and emphasize contrast. Introducing food dyes into her solution produces brilliant colors and textural definition. Each crystallized piece is unique but they all share one characteristic: serendipity.
“Ecologies of Restoration No. 23” by DM Witman, 2023-2024, Archival pigment photograph from hand-cultured salt crystals, courtesy of the artist and Danforth Art Museum, Framingham, MA.
Witman’s free-form, swirling, archival pigment photographs appear simultaneously descriptive and abstract, fossilized and alive. Her capricious techniques fairly insist on acceptance and letting go. Their internal rhythms and vivacity convey an irrepressible urge to rebound from ecological losses. Witman’s one-of-a-kind salt crystal prints mimic our own individuality, celebrate the splendor of possibilities, and inspire faith in the process of restoration.
“Ecologies of Restoration No. 13” (Detail) by DM Witman, 2023-2024, Archival pigment photograph from hand-cultured salt crystals, courtesy of the artist and Danforth Art Museum, Framingham, MA.
“Mommy, what is this?” 2018, from the series My Dear Americans by Ileana Doble Hernandez, courtesy of the artist and Danforth Art Museum, Framingham, MA.
While visiting the Danforth Art Museum, don’t miss the multimedia exhibit “My Dear Americans, It’s Not Enough” by Ileana Doble Hernandez. Her pieces are a moving and motivating call to action against continuing gun violence in the US, particularly in our schools.
For more information about these exhibits and accompanying programming, go to: https://danforth.framingham.edu/see-art/
In conjunction with Suzanne Révy’s “A Murmur in the Trees” exhibition, Workshop Arts has just published a book of the same title. For information or to order, go to: https://wrkshp.art/collections/books/products/a-murmur-of-trees
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