Surround your senses with the innate feelings of comfort inherent to all beings when returning to a place of belonging. Transdisciplinary environmental artist Justina Freel peeks into the little life moments of six local bird species in their indigenous habitats through an interconnected journey from the coastal prairies to the mountain forests. 

Along the Pacific Flyway, birds migrate above borders and boundaries in search of a place to sing songs of home. Ocean tides spray murmurations of cliff swallows that nest on the edge of land and sea. Wading in the marsh, a congregation of snowy egrets create a year-round community here in the warm waters. Coveys of quail scoot around the meadows of fragrant flowers. Charms of hummingbirds sip sweet nectar flowing from the chaparral blossoms of big berry manzanita (Arctostaphylos glauca). An earful of cedar waxwings arrive to the foothills in autumn, awaiting the perfect time to feast upon berries of toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia). On the woodland edge, a mother spotted owl shares her matrilineal knowledge with her young, watching keenly from their perch as they branch out in life from an ancient bigcone Douglas fir tree (Pseudotsuga macrocarpa). 

Intricate, multilayered silhouettes reveal the intimate forms of native birds and blooms. Their surfaces reveal the subtle shadows of heirloom textile textures pressed into hand-cut paper. Mineral pigments are hand ground by the artist, mulled into a creamy printmaking ink, and paired with colorful paper to transform her drawings into relief prints. Each individual print is made by hand in small batches using an antique printing press.

This exhibition is a joyous invitation to grow a future filled with native flowers and trees that give space for the birds and all indigenous beings to thrive in the land where they feel they belong
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Solo art show at Santa Barbara Botanic Garden
23 March - 14 July 2024