‘Between looking and understanding’
“Grocery Conveyor” (mixed media), by Cathy Della Lucia, in her two-person show with Lee Williams titled “Sculptural Ideas: Line, Color, and Form,’’ at Burlington City Arts, March 13-June 20, 2026
The gallery says:
“Foundational art elements–line, color, and form–influence the composition of sculpture as well as how we interact with it in an idiosyncratic way. The effect that sculpture has in space and the physical imposition it creates engages our subconscious and our non-verbal observations. Using tools like line, color, or form to communicate gesture, scale, or motion, three-dimensional artwork both passively and actively manipulates our perceptions. This idea may seem basic, but it often carries broader implications about the artist's intent or the artwork's impact on the viewer. ‘Sculptural Ideas: Line, Color, and Form’ seeks to close the gap between looking and understanding when interacting with contemporary sculpture.
As it shrinks
“Union Pacific's Rock-filled Causeway” (photo of Great Salt Lake, Utah) by Sallie Dean Shatz, from the “Learning Humility from a Dying Lake’’series, in the show “Human Impact: Contemporary Art and Our Environment,’’ at Burlington (Vt.) City Arts, March 13-June 20.
She explains:
“The causeway stretches 20 miles across the Great Salt Lake dissecting it (you can see it in the satellite images to the left.) The causeway was built with two bridges that water could flow through. It has been used to cut off the access of water between the north and south arm, sacrificing the north arm to save the ecosystem of the south arm.
“The south arm has more fresh water flowing into it from the mountains than the north arm. The salinity of the north arm is currently 34%. The current salinity for the south arm is 11.2%. For reference oceans are 3% salinity. The color of the north arm changes by season with the growth of archaea as seen in some of the other images in this exhibit. Note the archaea (pink) seeping into the south arm along the causeway.’’
Embracing grief
“Double Sorrow Double Joy” (double-headed sunflower from farm, planted after 2023 Vermont floods) (embalming thread, resin, dyed ribbon, wood), by Lydia Kern, at Burlington (Vt.) City Arts, in the group show “Do We Say Goodbye?Grief, Loss and Mourning,’’
-Image courtesy Burlington City Arts.
The gallery says the show explores “personal and collective encounters with grief" through the work of artists Peter Bruun, Bethany Collins, Jordan Douglas, Mariam Ghani, Lydia Kern, John Killacky, Nirmal Raja, and Jamel Robinson. Through photography, painting, video, and installation, these eight artists challenge “the finality of loss, inviting us to embrace grief as a shared yet deeply individual journey."
Expressing loss
“Are You Staying for Me” (mixed media), by Jamel Robinson, in the group show “Do We Say Goodbye? Grief, Loss, and Mourning,’’ at Burlington (Vt.) City Arts, Sept. 26-Jan. 24
The gallery explains:
“Grief, loss, and mourning are universal experiences and integral to the human condition. Yet in today’s society, grief often remains a taboo, almost unmentionable subject. The ways we express loss, and the extent to which it is socially accepted, can stir unease, discomfort, and apprehension. Whether for those we love, a way of life, a sense of belonging, or an aspect of our identity, how we navigate grief profoundly shapes our physical and mental well-being.
“Working in photography, painting, video, and installation, exhibition artists convey both personal and collective encounters with grief as they interrogate themes of memory, empowerment, transition, and endurance. “Do We Say Goodbye?’’ challenges the finality of loss, inviting us to embrace grief as a shared yet deeply individual journey.’’
Sky work in Burlington
“Prying into the Secrets of the Sky” (detail) (paper, bamboo, acrylic, wood and Dacron), by Jacob Hashimoto, in his show “Jacob Hashimoto: a lowercase sky,’’ at Burlington (Vt.) City Arts through Sept. 14.
The gallery explains that the show is an “immersive, site-specific installation combining traditional kite and design-making techniques, printmaking, and collage.’’
‘Unseen elements’
“A Solid Buzzing,” by Bunny Harvey, in her show “Worlds Within Worlds,’’ at Burlington (Vt.) City Arts. The show features the landscape paintings of the Tunbridge, Vt.-based artist.
She says:
“Lately my work has focused mainly on the hidden, or unseen elements of landscape: the west wind bringing new weather, the buzzing and hissing of insects, bird song and chatter, shifting pockets of cool and warm light, the scent of distant mown hay or manure or salt air, the feel of grass or mud or stone on my feet.’’
Hayward and Noble Mill and Mill Bridge, in Tunbridge.
Improvised abstrations
Terry Ekasala, “Backyard,” by Terry Ekasala, in the show “Terry Ekasala: Layers of Time,’’ at Burlington (Vt.) City Arts through Jan. 27. She lives near Burke Mountain, in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom.
— Photo courtesy of Burlington City Arts
The gallery explains:
“Kasala's work is layered, dynamic and heavily improvised — experiences, personal journeys for artist and viewer alike.’’
Burke Mountain from Lyndonville, Vt.
— Photo From the nek
Towering but playful
Hyunsuk Erickson, “Thingumabob Society’’ (ceramic and textile), by Hyunsuk Erickson, at Burlington (Vt.) City Arts through Sept. 17
— Photo by Renee Greenlee
The gallery says:
“Hyunsuk Erickson explores ideas of materiality, resourcefulness, and identity in her whimsical installation Thingumabob Society. Comprised of multi-colored, organic forms that tower in size, spring from the wall, or gather in groups, Erickson’s oddly shaped and playful sculptures suggest sprouting seeds or family groupings.
“The artist creates her Thingumabobs by merging sculpture and craft traditions. Using plastic, yarn, and found fabric, she crochets and weaves over and around more durable materials such as ceramic to produce animated and joyful forms.
“Drawing upon memories of her family’s farm in Korea with those of motherhood and family in the United States, Erickson’s creations explore the cyclical nature of life, the waste of consumer culture, and the hybrid nature of her Korean and American identity. In Thingumabob Society, the artist fashions an imaginative and hopeful space that invites us to collectively reflect on relationships – between nature, culture, and ourselves.’’
Artificial art?
“All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace and Deeper Meditations #1-#6” (video still), by Memo Akten, at Burlington (Vt.) City Arts, in the group show “Co-Created: The Artist in the Age of Intelligent Machines’’.
— Photo courtesy Burlington City Arts
The gallery says the exhibition “explores the impact, ethics and aesthetics of art created by artifical intelligence. The show tackles tough questions about the nature of artwork through the work of eight artists’’ — Jane Adams, Memo Akten, Minne Atairu, Lapo Frati, Jenn Karson, Mauro Martino, Casey Reas and Jason Rohrer.
ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, in Burlington.
‘Humanity’s shared myths’
“Child of the Pure Unclouded Mind” (watercolor and oil on Arches paper (detail)), by Valerie Hird, at Burlington (Vt.) City Arts through Jan. 28.
The gallery says:
“Vermont-based and nationally acclaimed artist Valerie Hird explores the connections between cultures and their environment as a meditation on the ambiguities of our contemporary world. In her first solo exhibition at the BCA Center, Hird presents a provocative visual exploration of humanity’s shared myths. The artist envisions a fantastical garden where untamed and uncivilized nature becomes a metaphor for the pressures weighing on societal systems.
“Through a diverse vocabulary of colorful patterns and iconic symbols gathered and reimagined, Hird explores personal and collective identity – weaving together social, cultural, and political themes in a range of media. In this selection of new and recent work, Hird moves forward and backward across time and memory as she reflects on the illusion, disruption, and disarray within contemporary society. ‘The Garden of Absolute Truths’’ features large-scale paintings, animated video, and three-dimensional sculpture commissioned specifically for the exhibition.’’’
— All works courtesy of the Artist and Nohra Haime Gallery, New York
A waffle or the Texas electrical grid?
”Slanting Grid” (acrylic and beeswax on muslin with canvas, polyester fiber and thread), by Meg Lipke, in her show “In the Making,’’ at Burlington City Arts, Burlington, Vt,. through May 15.
The gallery says that Ms. Lipke seeks to challenge conventional notions of painting by drawing on “20th Century modernism, past craft traditions and memories of her mother and grandmother's creative practices to create soft paintings and totemic sculptures of canvas and cloth. She works with her chosen materials to create forms that resemble long, disembodied limbs, pushing the limits of contemporary abstraction.’’
Part of her upbringing was in Burlington but she now lives and works in Brooklyn.
The Church Street Marketplace in Burlington
Good time to be an escape artist
“Boom4Real: Escape Artist Series, {After}Jean Michel Basquiat,’’ by Li Sumpter, at Burlington (Vt.) City Arts but only open for viewing on the Web.
Lake Champlain from the Burlington docks, with the Adirondacks.
— Photo by Jscarreiro
Ethan Allen Homestead (1784)
Old Mill building at the University of Vermont