Opening reception: March 9, 6 – 8 pm

Octavia Art Gallery is pleased to present Suzi Davidoff: Field Notes. This will be Davidoff’s first solo exhibition at Octavia Art Galley, and the gallery’s first exhibition in our temporary location at 400 Julia Street. The works exhibited in Field Notes include mixed-media drawings and paintings, prints, animations, and installations. These works were inspired in part by the IUCN Red List of threatened species, an inventory of the conservation status of the world’s biological species.

Davidoff is influenced by her close connection to nature and by what she calls, “the spirit of investigation and observation of the natural world.” Her work explores themes of structure, sustainability, and perception of our environment. Davidoff’s current body of work considers the intricate patterns found in nature and the overlaying systems used to observe, map, and define organic landscapes. Her process begins with a walk, most often through the West Texas desert, where she lives. Along the way, she picks up bits of moss and lichen, handfuls of dirt, and other natural materials. She rubs her found materials onto her paper serving as the ground for her composition and creating a physical connection between personal experience and the finished work. These pieces emulate a conversation about human-wrought changes in the ecosystem. They are an exploration of the contrast between the clarity and wonder of the natural world and the present instability of specific natural forms.

Suzi Davidoff is based in the Chihuahuan desert of West Texas. She received her BFA at the University of Texas at El Paso and attended New Mexico State University for her MA and MFA. She has had solo exhibitions at the Rubim Center for the Visual Arts, TX; Chicago Art Source, IL; Zane Bennett Contemporary Art, NM; Flatbed Press, TX; among many others. Her work is the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY; the National Museum of Women in the Arts, DC; Art in Embassies, MX; El Paso Museum of Art, TX; Hallmark Collection, MO, and the Texas Tech University Museum, TX. Davidoff has been the recipient of the Mid-America NEW Fellowship and a Ford Foundation/ Pollock-Siquieros Bi-national Art Award.