Dates

Sep 17, 2026 -Nov 14, 2026

In an era marked by ecological precarity, "Hubris and the Sublime" investigates humanity's historical drive to control nature's indomitable power. This exhibition explores how the philosophical concept of the Sublime—that overwhelming sense of awe and terror before nature's magnitude—finds renewed urgency as climate anxiety intensifies.

Working with 18th-century images from the foundation's rare book library, Sally explores human nature by substituting historic botanical illustrations for the chintz textile patterns. Incorporating layers painted after Hudson River School paintings of Arctic scenes, the work in the exhibition evoke a warning about illusions of control over the power of the natural world. 

Artist Statement

My art practice explores humanity's place within the sublime power of the natural world through multi-layered landscape paintings. These complex compositions invite moments of connection to the natural environment while offering opportunities to contemplate ecological and societal issues. The series human Nature combines gestural and atmospheric landscapes with intricate botanical images derived from historic textiles and rare book collections from the 18th century. 

Through careful research of museum and library archives, I develop custom stencils to layer these motifs throughout the paintings. Building multiple layers allows previous applications to show through like a historical palimpsest, suggesting the accumulation of human eras alongside the enduring presence of nature. Canvas edges often fray into soft fringes, reinforcing the plant-based origins of the substrate. The chintz textile patterns are indicative of the colonial period, when British and American merchants capitalized on and exploited indigenous lands and people. Also from the 18th century are botanical illustrations made during the Age of Enlightenment, when, in their quest for knowledge and control over nature.

Europeans endeavored to catalog and commodify all species of the natural world. Many pieces incorporate imagery from 19th-century Hudson River School paintings, whose sublime landscapes invoked spiritual renewal but also promoted harmful ideas of manifest destiny. Combining symbolic references to the 18th and 19th centuries and the Western world's impact on the American continent, the work reveals the complex relationship between humans and nature. This work is deeply personal due to my ancestry of early American settlers. It offers a way to acknowledge the effects my culture has had on the world and to communicate a belief in the sublime power of nature, despite human interference.

MPA's Fall Solo exhibitions are made possible through support from The O'Shaughnessy-Hurst Memorial Foundation

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