Cultivation is a solo show of my work at Coop Gallery in Nashville, TN. September 7 – September 22, 2024 | Opening Reception September 7, 1pm–9pm

COOP is pleased to present Cultivation by Marilee Salvator. Cultivation features new works created from Salvator’s exploration of the symbiotic relationship with materials and the natural world. Each day, Salvator engages in a ritual of setting thin Kozo papers in the sun, weighted by found rocks and pouring homemade walnut inks onto them. This process captures a unique record of evaporation, recorded in the fibers, which are used to create prints. Salvator is fascinated by the reticulation patterns born from this process and the element of chance it embodies.

Salvator’s exploration extends into the micro-biological realm, drawing parallels between invasive plants and diseases. Combining historical and non-traditional printmaking approaches, Salvator pushes boundaries, creating installations and prints that unfold and grow organically. Recent prints feature bryozoans, digitally altering and combining colonies into printing matrices, exploring themes of repetition, pattern, hidden beauty, and exponential growth. Translucent Kozo paper, despite its delicate appearance, boasts resilience, mirroring our Earth's strength and need for protection. Manipulating bryozoan colonies reflects humanity's detrimental desire to control nature, with nature often responding in ways beyond our control. This imagery provides a visual language for exploring destruction, growth, and the interconnectedness of all life forms. Salvator deliberately seeks natural materials, incorporating them into intricate sculptural forms.

By submerging these natural objects in layers of recycled latex paint, Salvator aims to shed light on pollution and humanity's environmental impact, obscuring intricate details with each layer and encapsulating them in a transformative shell of discarded paint. Coating them in wax symbolizes a bid to preserve these natural treasures, highlighting the delicate balance between exploitation and preservation.

Huge thank you goes to Beth Reitmeyer for all of your assistance in logistics of the show and assisting with installation. Additional thank you goes out to the entire Coop collective for your help with the exhibition and deinstallation.

Coop is Nashville’s longest-established, artist-run project space and curatorial collective, established in 2010.COOP creates a dialogue between Nashville and art scenes across the country by inviting artists to exhibit, develop projects, and interact with the Nashville community.  COOP presents artists of diverse media, content, and backgrounds in a non-commercial space.

Here is a link to a brief video.