Installed in July/August 2016 at the Downtown Oklahoma City Community Basketball Court.

Contained Aesthetics was made possible by the Downtown OKC Initiatives' Artist Invitational Program.

Artist Statement

Urbanization has unwittingly changed the way that people experience nature.  In wilderness, nature demands respect and an active awareness.  In our cities, we have reduced nature to contained aesthetics - a nuisance to control, or an amenity to manipulate.  An awareness of nature within the city is voluntary, a conscious effort.  It's not necessary for basic survival, but its importance transcends more than we realize.  Studies have shown that paying attention to one's natural surroundings affects the brain in similar ways to meditation.  It's calming, a mindful break from the stress of everyday life.  We can take this with us beyond the gardens and parks and wild places... It's right here in front of us.

July 2016

Missing Pieces was supported through an Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition Creative Projects Grant.  This body of work was originally exhibited at The Project Box in the Paseo District of Oklahoma City.

Artist Statement

Missing Pieces is a study on the phenomenon of cause and effect in nature, and the way our interactions with and management of our environment can dismantle ecosystems by removing components on a niche – pieces upon which other pieces rely. Milkweed plants of the genus Asclepias are an important host for pollinators, in particular the monarch butterfly. The evolution of land management, including development, agricultural advancements, roadside mowing, and spraying of chemicals, has contributed to a decline in this group of plants. In turn, disappearance of milkweed disrupts the monarch’s breeding cycles and epic migrations, threatening the livelihood of one of the most well-known insects in North America.

Through knitted interpretations of milkweed flowers native to our region, I seek to awaken viewers to the important genus of plants upon which the monarch depends, as well as the broader picture of the human footprint on nature. These knitted botanical sculptures place milkweed plants beneath a microscope, exploring their unique features and vast responsibility within the entomological world.

52 Forms of Fungi was a creative exercise in which I originally set out to knit a different type of fungi for every week of the year.  Each phase was placed in situ, photographed, and documented on my blog.  View the full set of posts at www.bromeleighad.com/blog

April 2014

“Succession” was a site specific installation created for “threshold: the promised land”, an exhibition of several local artists in the Old Lumber Yard on Main St in Norman, part of the StART Norman project. I also collaborated on an installation with Sarah Hearn, a symbiotic fusion of knitting, photography and paper cutting to create an installation of symbiotic organisms– lichen.

Artist Statement

“Response to a man-made venue, abandoned from use and neglected in upkeep, typically incites a perception of decay, loss and idleness. Infrastructure may fall into ruin, while nature returns to claim what is hers. The lumber yard pivots here, springing from a state of decline into a climb of renewal. Like a post-destruction ecosystem, a natural community of organisms begins a new stage of succession, bringing the scene into new life.

The two trees at the east end of the compound are long gone, leaving behind only remnants of past vitality. Despite this demise the trees’ remains provide sustenance for another niche, creating signs of new life – a promised land for the cycles of nature. Abundant. Productive. Placing value on what once was. Much like the planned revitalization of this historic site into something modern, yet reminiscent of its fascinating past.”

Curatorial statement from Laura Reese and heather ahtone:

“Threshold: the promised land will explore the space as a site for transformation. Threshold implies an opening for change, a boundary yet to be crossed, and the maximum or minimum point of change. The phrase “promised land” brings to mind hope and new beginnings, as well as reflection on local history. The artists will create work that examines themes around building, construction and future potential as well as the economy of exchange. In the early years of the city’s second century, Norman’s citizens seek to express the vibrancy of the community and to celebrate the diversity that makes it an amazing place to live.
The exhibition will be accompanied by educational programming and creative performance by local musicians, performance artists, poets, and others. The intent of this installation is to transform the community of Norman through the vehicle of art, reflecting inclusivity and respect as core values of the city.”

2014

Artist Statement

Composed of three fiber installations of different species of fungi placed throughout the trail system of Martin Park Nature Center, “Niche” was my first opportunity to create installations that remained outdoors for an extended period of time. Executed within view of the trail, each small-scale installation exhibited the subtlety and inconspicuousness of real fungi, while standing out plainly to the keen observer. An awareness of the presence of the artwork throughout the park served as a catalyst to bring the attention of visitors to the phenology and stages of growth of the various plants and other organisms residing there. It encouraged engagement and contemplation of the ecosystems within the park as visitors noticed the installations, hopefully with the end result of helping them to cultivate a stronger connection to nature.
“Niche” invited its viewers to closely inspect the seemingly mundane elements found right outside their doors through a fiber art medium.

2013

Saprobia was created for Momentum Tulsa, an exhibition for artists 30 and under sponsored by the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. I was one of three Spotlight Artists selected to create a body of work specifically for this exhibition.

Artist Statement:

The biota of a forest ecosystem continuously adapts in a self sustaining cycle of growth, reproduction, decline and renewal. Trees originate from tiny, energy packed seeds, consistently supported by rich mineral soil and moisture retained by organic matter throughout the growing process. Fallen debris takes on new life on the floor, impacting organisms residing in that locale. Broken down by saprobic organisms, trees that lose vitality become protective insulation and minerals that nourish plants for generations forward. Life feeds life, and all parts of the ecosystem support each other in the continuity of ecology, perhaps in a different form but always present.

Rarely do we think of a tree as a product of the growth and death of all other trees in that place before it, an organism nourished by the same building blocks that it will one day become in order to support future life. Saprobia is an interpretation of this concept of forest life cycles through an installation of saprobic fruiting bodies, each taking shape in the form of fiber and incorporating components of a certain species of tree. These saprobic representations of a species join the viewer’s perception to the continuity of forest mineral cycling and the interconnectedness of all organisms in an ecosystem, past and present.

Saprobia poses the question of what is next for the elements that once comprised a plant. How will they contribute to other life henceforth? How can so small a thing have such an impact? How remarkable it is that we get to witness this strikingly mysterious collaboration of life.

Riot is the third phase of the Decomposition series and was created in 2013.

The series is a study on the intricate textures of fungi and how they blend in to their natural environment.  At a glance and from a distance, these knitted replicas meld in as a part of the magnificent cycle that transforms living plants to detritus and further into minerals that nourish other living plants as they draw these minerals up from the soil.  For instance, when viewing the installation at the distance of the bottom photo the pieces appear natural and as though they are meant to exist there.  However, on a closer encounter one sees that these are not fruiting bodies at all.  The delicate knit stitch stands out and draws you in for closer inspection, much like the intricacies in the texture of fungi draw me in.  These elements spur on a stream of questions that carry me meditatively in to a place of introspection.  While this is a personal project, I hope that it excites the same way of thinking amongst its viewers, elevating to a greater level of awareness of one’s surroundings.

Dyed-in-the-wool was an installation created in 2013 for Rare Earth, an exhibition at Plug Projects in Kansas City. Rare Earth “features work that borrows materials and figures from the natural world to reevaluate the nature of nature and examine the many landscapes we all inhabit. Geodes, lichen, wind and water, fungi and fauna explore the possibilities of symbiosis, the interventions of pollution, and imaginatively refigure the terrestrial through painting, photography and sculpture. Considering human mediation into all of the ecologies we encounter, Rare Earth offers viewers new modes of seeing the world around them.”

This was a gallery installation of Colony, the first phase from the Decomposition series. Decomposition: Colony III was exhibited at Momentum Oklahoma City in 2013 and received the “Curator’s Choice Award” in that exhibition.

Artist Statement

The series is a study on the intricate textures of fungi and how they blend in to their natural environment.  At a glance and from a distance, these knitted replicas meld in as a part of the magnificent cycle that transforms living plants to detritus and further into minerals that nourish other living plants as they draw these minerals up from the soil.  For instance, when viewing the installation at the distance of the bottom photo the pieces appear natural and as though they are meant to exist there.  However, on a closer encounter one sees that these are not fruiting bodies at all.  The delicate knit stitch stands out and draws you in for closer inspection, much like the intricacies in the texture of fungi draw me in.  These elements spur on a stream of questions that carry me meditatively in to a place of introspection.  While this is a personal project, I hope that it excites the same way of thinking amongst its viewers, elevating to a greater level of awareness of one’s surroundings.

"Decomposition: Stacks" was installed in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 2012.

Artist Statement

The Decomposition series is a study on the intricate textures of fungi and how they blend in to their natural environment. At a glance and from a distance, these knitted replicas meld in as a part of the magnificent cycle that transforms living plants to detritus and further into minerals that nourish other living plants as they draw these minerals up from the soil. For instance, when viewing the installation at a distance, the pieces appear natural and as though they are meant to exist there. However, on a closer encounter one sees that these are not fruiting bodies at all. The delicate knit stitch stands out and draws you in for closer inspection, much like the intricacies in the texture of fungi draw me in. These elements spur on a stream of questions that carry me meditatively in to a place of introspection. While this is a personal project, I hope that it excites the same way of thinking amongst its viewers, elevating to a greater level of awareness of one’s surroundings.

Stacks was inspired by a common fungus found on young and thin barked trees, called split gill fungus

This is the second installation of phase one of my “Decomposition” series, created in 2012 in coastal Oregon.

Artist Statement

The series is a study on the intricate textures of fungi and how they blend in to their natural environment. At a glance and from a distance, these knitted replicas meld in as a part of the magnificent cycle that transforms living plants to detritus and further into minerals that nourish other living plants as they draw these minerals up from the soil. For instance, when viewing the installation at the distance of the bottom photo the pieces appear natural and as though they are meant to exist there. However, on a closer encounter one sees that these are not fruiting bodies at all. The delicate knit stitch stands out and draws you in for closer inspection, much like the intricacies in the texture of fungi draw me in. These elements spur on a stream of questions that carry me meditatively in to a place of introspection. While this is a personal project, I hope that it excites the same way of thinking amongst its viewers, elevating to a greater level of awareness of one’s surroundings.

This is the first installation of phase one of my “Decomposition” series, created in 2012 in coastal Oregon.

Artist Statement

The series is a study on the intricate textures of fungi and how they blend in to their natural environment. At a glance and from a distance, these knitted replicas meld in as a part of the magnificent cycle that transforms living plants to detritus and further into minerals that nourish other living plants as they draw these minerals up from the soil. For instance, when viewing the installation at the distance of the bottom photo the pieces appear natural and as though they are meant to exist there. However, on a closer encounter one sees that these are not fruiting bodies at all. The delicate knit stitch stands out and draws you in for closer inspection, much like the intricacies in the texture of fungi draw me in. These elements spur on a stream of questions that carry me meditatively in to a place of introspection. While this is a personal project, I hope that it excites the same way of thinking amongst its viewers, elevating to a greater level of awareness of one’s surroundings.