Flora Fauna

December 8, 2022 – April 16, 2023

Flora Fauna presents a visual celebration of the natural world centered around the work of two Carmel based artists, Elizabeth Barlow and Susan Manchester. The stunning display is characterized by Elizabeth Barlow’s original oil paintings and Susan Manchester's mixed medium drawings, set in conversation with over a dozen flora and fauna inspired works from the Museum’s permanent collection. The exhibition includes works by Hector Dionicio Mendoza, David Ligare, Wayne Thiebaud, Mark Adams, Penelope Gottlieb, and Loet Vanderveen, and select loans from the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History. Examining how representations of the plant and animal kingdoms have evolved over the last three centuries, Flora Fauna looks beyond the frivolity of artistic muse to suggest a more reciprocal and imperative relationship informed by the effects of climate change and the resulting vulnerability of our region’s own unique and treasured ecosystems. Beneath the surface of their near perfect semblances of beauty, Elizabeth Barlow and Susan Manchester share a reverence and concern for the natural world that sustains their work and permeates the exhibition.