Susan Bergman Gurrentz ’56 Gallery
Chatham University, Pittsburgh, PA
September 4 - October 4, 2024

Gallery Hours are M-F, 11am-6pm

How to get there: Navigate to and park on the 1100 block of Murray Hill Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15217. Walk onto Chatham University's campus via the entrance to the parking lot for Eddy Theatre. Walk across the quad to the Susan Bergman Gurrentz ’56 Gallery. See the map below.

Artist Statement

Mā-trē-ə-ti-zəm (noun): active love, reverence, and reciprocal care of nature and all of her children. It is an acknowledgement that nothing we hold dear exists in isolation created by artificial borders. Its effects are global. It is a belief that, just as water down your drain eventually finds its way to an expecting mother's womb, we reap what we sow and we gain what we give.

Works in this show are about these very real connections that sustain us in the wake of historical assaults. Several are reimaginings of everyday traditions and seemingly innocuous symbols that subjugate half of the human population and claim ownership over nature. Others are reflections on the harm we inflict on the environment as well as the tender side of our relationship with it. All of them are prompts for deeper reflection on your own relationship with nature and your fellow citizens, and to explore the only real truth we know: things must change.

Engage

Gallery visitors are invited to contribute to the ongoing evolution of two artworks in the gallery:

The "Poll of Allegiance" asks visitors to record ‘To whom or what do you pledge your allegiance?’ Responses are collected like ballots. For those not able to see the show in-person, pledges can be submitted online here. They will be hand-written and placed in the work.

The second participatory work is "Rupture," an installation of a garden of piñatas in the likeness of fruit and flowers representing women's bodies. The piñatas fillers spilling out onto the floor are objects submitted through the "piñata poll," which asks, 'If you were a piñata cracked open, what objects would fall out?' Again, if you are not able to see the show in-person, you can take the piñata poll here and your submissions will be incorporated.

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