Bound by Nature

In its new three-artist exhibition “Bound by Nature,” Downtown LA’s Corey Helford Gallery has invited Canadian illustrator and author Dena Seiferling (BDes ’99, VCD and Sessional Instructor), Portland-based hyperrealist painter Lisa Ericson and Russian born, Sydney-based artist Yulia Pustoshkina to feature their work through Saturday, Nov. 11.

Each artist’s collection explores a different side of the natural world and the ways that humanity has impacted and interacted with it.

In her “Small Creatures Big Feelings” series, Seiferling, who works as an educator at the Alberta University of the Arts, said she wanted to embrace the slow-paced and time-intensive nature of needle-felting on small sculptures made from antique objects.

“This collection consists of a variety of imagery/sculpture work brought to life through self-reflection and an effort to use subject matter that inspires a bright side to dark emotions,” she said. “The narratives are about finding ways to be hopeful and holding onto purpose in a climate of uncertainty. I wanted to highlight the empowerment in acknowledging parts of ourselves, or experiences that we are a little afraid of, through the animals I chose to feature. 

“I (also) wanted to incorporate movement into several of the sculptures, which involved a collaboration with my dad to build small crank devices to move parts of the sculptures.”

— Exhibition description from LADowntownNews.com