Image

The UMass Amherst Libraries are currently hosting two new exhibits this spring, “The Soil Beneath Us,” by artist and writer Malaika Ross, and “Harvesting Color: A Seasonal Journal,” by artist and herbalist/educator Tony(a) Lemos. Both exhibits run through May 30 and are open for viewing during regular library hours at the Science and Engineering Library in Lederle Graduate Research Center Lowrise. A reception celebrating both exhibits will be held on April 11, 1-3 p.m., in the Science and Engineering Library Learning Studio.

Ross will also be hosting a workshop related to her exhibit on April 11, from 9-11:30 a.m. Registration is free and open to the public, but limited. To RSVP, contact Paulina Borrego at pborrego@library.umass.edu.

“The Soil Beneath Us” features Ross’s unconventional mixed media drawings and collages exploring ecological concepts based in the rhizosphere. She collages various microscope images of one type of soil microbe, then uses graphite, pencil and ink to draw the collage and explore the shapes and patterns created as microbes merge, resulting in an abstracted soil landscape.

Image

Ross, a Caribbean American artist, earned her bachelor’s with a focus in soil microbiology from Hampshire College. She went on to study painting and drawing at the Rhode Island School of Design, San Francisco Art Institute and the Marchutz School of Fine Arts. Additionally, she completed intensive coursework in sustainable farming, ecological restoration and Hawaiian ethnobotany at the University of Hawaiʻi, Hilo.

“Harvesting Color: A Seasonal Journal” features multidisciplinary art influenced by the surrounding world. As a lifelong ecologist and “plant person,” Lemos’s work as an artist and healer sits at the intersection of art, ecology and herbalism. She actively works with the alchemical processes of Green World, be it eco-printing, alternative photography methods or foraging and medicine making.

Lemos has worked as a community herbalist/educator in Western Massachusetts for over 25 years as director of Blazing Star Herbal School. She helps people connect with plants as allies for physical, mental and spiritual healing. Additionally, she has taught workshops on place-based art and book making regionally including at the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University, The New England Botanical Garden, The Provincetown Art Museum, Books in the Woods and Shepherd and Maudsley Printmaking. She has shown her artwork in several local galleries both solo and in group shows and has curated several shows locally. She is a studio monitor and on the faculty at Zea Mays Printmaking and is currently in an MFA program through Clark University.

More information about these and other exhibits hosted by the Libraries can be found on the Libraries’ website.