Invasive Beauty

“Ecologists and wildlife experts often distinguish between "invasive" and "exotic" species when they talk about non-native plants. They might say invasive when they want to emphasize that an organism is likely to do irreparable harm; that it will unbalance the delicate system to which it has been introduced. What happens when artists interpret, and re-purpose imagery and materials from the natural world, inserting them into built environments, and other spaces, to which they are non-native? Can these works become invasive?

PVDFest public art alumna May Babcock and Rebecca Volynsky explore the concept of invasive beauty in distinct yet complimentary ways. Babcock harvests non-native plants from Rhode Island's eddies and tide pools, pulping them into hand-made paper, or arranging them into painterly gelatinous forms. Her re-contextualization draws out the subtle patterns and delicate hues of oft-maligned flora. Volynsky's murals and other painted works appropriate the language of the still life, rending bouquets and tessellating natural motifs in abstracted vibrant colors that invite viewers to sit next to and among them, but also to consider how floral abundance can be simultaneously soothing and overwhelming. Both artists transformed their public and studio practices through PVDFest Public Art commissions.

In this joint installation at Providence City Hall, they drew with and poured paper pulp using Eurasian Milfoil pondweed and Volynksy's motifs as inspiration. By allowing the paper to dry into multi-dimensional, layered forms, Babcock and Volynksy created works that are at once connected to their previous efforts, and yet wholly new.”

- Micah Salkind, curator

* The salon-style framed works on the right wall are selections from May Babcock’s Herbarium and Macroalgae series.

Invasive Beauty, May Babcock and Rebecca Volynsky, artist-made paper pulp from abaca, cotton, Eurasian Milfoil, 18 ft. x 5 ft. x 8 in., 2019

  • Installed at Providence City Hall, 25 Dorrance St., Providence RI

  • May Babcock, Citizen Citation, Mayor of the City of Providence, Rhode Island

  • Special thanks to Micah Salkind at PVD ACT.

This project was generously supported by The City of Providence Department of Art Culture + Tourism and the City of Providence.