The Eco Arts Collective is pleased to welcome you to its third annual Earth Day exhibition. From folktale and cultural identity to spiritual union and the tension between the imposition upon and reclamation by the natural world, the following works in diverse media respond to the concept of INTERWOVEN.
The work of artist Kerin Rose traces the shifting contours of what it means to be human: the fragile weight of memory, the pulse of longing, the quiet resilience that carries us forward. She lingers in the spaces between what is spoken and what is felt, where silence holds its own vocabulary and fleeting moments of connection reveal their unexpected light. Each piece Rose makes is an offering, a vessel for what cannot always be named. The Woman Who Outshone the Sun references the Zapotec legend of Lucia Zenteno, an unusual woman exiled from a mountain village by its fearful people. Nature itself mourns this event and leaves with her, including the village’s river, and it is only through the power of forgiveness that balance is restored. At its heart, this sculpture is a search for tenderness within the complexity of living, a way of holding space for imperfection, beauty, mystery, and connection. The artist honors the Zapotec people actively defending their water rights against government-led privatization and corporate exploitation. Water is life: we are inseparably interwoven.
ABOUT THE ARTIST Kerin Rose is an artist and educator currently living in Vermont. She received her BFA from the Pratt Institute and her MFA from the Instituto Allende in San Miguel, MX, with additional graduate studies at the University of New Mexico. As a classically trained metalsmith and jewelry artist, the impact of the industry on our environment conflicted with her reverence for the natural world. In response, she is one of the earliest adopters of recycled precious metal casting, and carves her models from the beeswax produced by the bees she and her sister keep. Rose has continued her forays into the world of ceramic sculpture with a series of new exhibitions in 2026.
Artist Ria Sharma paints dynamic geometric figures in vibrant colors of acrylic. Family traditions of her childhood motivate her to also layer her current series with repurposed Indian fabric. In Woven Journey, rescued Indian fabric is stitched as collage and serves as a metaphor of continuity and going forward with one’s identity with dignity. It signifies resilience. Sharma added a hand-painted cubic figure and the work includes hand-painted patterns extending the textile motifs into the canvas, dissolving boundaries between fabric and painting while reflecting the interconnected paths of family, culture, and self-discovery.
ABOUT THE ARTIST Ria Sharma is a versatile artist. A former civil engineer who transitioned into art in 2017, she draws upon her technical background to develop a distinctive Cubist style. Sharma reflects deep cultural stories and her journey as an immigrant in America, repurposing traditional Indian textiles in her works. With eight solo exhibitions, participation in 50+ international shows, and as the recipient of 20+ awards, her work has been featured in multiple publications.
Wherever we travel to in this lifetime, we are never alone: the human and the Divine are inextricably interwoven. Compass Rose references the abundance of this relationship and discernment. Smaller sculptural objects – consolations – carry personal stories about encountering the Spirit’s presence when walking with the land, especially with landscapes marked by human cruelty and during challenging circumstances. Sheltering in their own coiled baskets, these objects further serve to highlight some outcomes of species interacting. For example, wasps inject their larvae into oak leaves and, as with the creation of a pearl, something beautiful results: the oak gall or apple has been used to produce ink and its medicinal uses are still being studied.
ABOUT THE ARTIST Amanda J. Sisk most recently designed six monumental sculptures for the public and learned the miniature art of traditional cameo carving. She continues to restructure how she creates in relation to the health of the planet, particularly through both Franciscan and Indigenous sensibilities and commitments. Compass Rose was fashioned from avocado, clay, coffee, raffia, sisal, and wood to be durable yet compostable. Conceived of during a residency at the Tides Institute & Museum of Art, the nautical design references a patron’s garden, Mary (mother of Jesus Christ), and the patron’s travels inclusive of a pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago.
Collateral: A Flow of Time explores the concept of time as a bridge, with the precarious beauty of Venice as its backdrop. As the city literally sinks, the work captures the profound tension between the human desire for permanence and nature’s inevitable reclamation of a city imposed upon a salt marsh. It is a portrait of a landscape and a civilization running out of time.
ABOUT THE ARTIST Siana Smith is a San Francisco Bay Area visual artist whose oil paintings explore the intersection of consumerism, emotional attachment, and the complexities of our relationships with ourselves, each other, and an everchanging natural world. She earned her MFA from the California College of the Arts in 2021 and her work has been exhibited internationally at institutions including the De Young Museum, The New York Academy of Art, and the London Biennale 2025. A recipient of the California Arts Council Emerging Artist Fellowship (2023), Smith has been awarded multiple residencies across the United States and Italy. She also serves on the Saratoga Library and Public Art Commission, contributing to community-based art initiatives.