By Khalida Sarwari
One would be hard-pressed to find anyone who’s familiar with Villa Montalvo to disagree with the notion that it is a magical and charming place. While some spend an afternoon at the estate preferring to snap pictures of its beauty or bask in the sun on the Great Lawn, others feel inclined to delve deeper into its landscape and capture its essence through works of art.
The latter was the case for a group of artists who completed a fellowship in the Lucas Artists Residency Program, a multi-disciplinary artist residency that’s been around for 10 years.
Artists such as Hector Dionicio Mendoza drew inspiration from the gardens, oak and redwood forests, and exotic plantings at Montalvo to create a series of works that explore the boundary between the natural and unnatural and the relationship between humans and landscapes.
Montalvo’s horticultural diversity is reflected in works created by Mendoza and his fellow artists Kija Lucas, Monica Lundy, Trena Noval and Ann Wettrich.
The idea behind the exhibit, titled “Botanica Poetica,” said curator Donna Conwell, is to showcase the work of Montalvo’s artists in residence and show how they’ve been inspired by nature, specifically Montalvo’s landscapes, on their hikes or walks around the grounds.
“You get a lot of really interesting threads coming out of this observation of the natural world … ideas of human impact on our environment and climate change,” Conwell said.
The artists identified, collected and documented varied specimens of plant life they discovered while exploring Montalvo’s 175-acre public park and then demonstrated their experiences in the form of sculpture, painting, photography and works on paper.
Mendoza’s body of work features a healthy dose of flora. The Monterey County-based artist has nine pieces in the exhibit, including a 3D sculpture, works on paper and spray-painted wood blocks.
“The reason I applied [to the artist residency program] is I was interested in exploring flora and taking flora and crushing it down in books so I could flatten them,” said Mendoza. The residual effect of that process, he found, was “a ghostly image of plant life.”
Mendoza lives in the Monterey region, where he has an art studio and teaches sculpture and installation in the visual and public art department at Cal State-Monterey Bay. The residency program at Montalvo, he said, gave him the time and opportunity to focus on new ideas and work among other creative people.
“Doing the residency was a really great experience,” he said.
On Dec. 6, Montalvo will host Noval, Wettrich, Lucas and Lundy for a conversation about the relationship between art and nature. Attendees will have a chance to learn techniques for sharpening their naturalist’s eye and visually recording the world around them, as well as sample dried persimmons and persimmon tea and learn about fall crop harvesting and preserving techniques. The event that starts at 2 p.m. is free for Montalvo members and $10 for non-members.
The Botanica Poetica exhibit can be viewed in the Project Space Gallery through Jan. 31. There is an outdoor component at the head of the woodlands trail near Montalvo’s Belvedere Temple that invites walkers, hikers and nature enthusiasts to assemble, curate and share objects they discover along hiking pathways. Dubbed the “curiosity field station,” the site features display shelves, nooks and collection jars for visitors to document their discoveries and use chalkboard backdrops and supplies to add context, labels, notations and comments. The idea, said Conwell, is to “engage the hiking community in the works of our artists and find bridges and space we can connect with them.”
