Michelle Stuart: Drawn from Nature on View at SBMA

Michelle Stuart, Book of the Stone, 1984-85. Earth from Machu Picchu, hydrocal cover, brown wax, linen, muslin-mounted paper. Courtesy of the artist and Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects.

Michelle Stuart, Book of the Stone, 1984-85. Courtesy of the artist and Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects.

Currently on view at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art (through May 25) is an interesting contemporary exhibit, Michelle Stuart: Drawn from Nature.

Drawing, sculpture, photography, video and installation— Stuart has done it all, infusing her lifelong interest in the natural world into all of her pieces, and maintaining a dialogue with nature that is at times literal (smashing rocks and leaves into her art) and ethereal (creating her own imaginary landscapes). Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1130 State St. 805/963-4364, sbma.net.

Originally published in Santa Barbara SEASONS on March 9, 2014.