Sculpting Nature

Opening reception Thu., Aug. 12, 5-7 p.m., free, through Sept. 2, Center for Emerging Visual Artists, 1521 Locust St., lower level, 215-546-7775, cfeva.org.

by Will Stone

visual art

Hedgerows and lush vineyards are easy on the eyes. So does it matter that bushes don't grow in rectilinear shapes any more than bronze tree sculptures don't sprout without their natural counterpart? Three local artists uproot this well-pruned half-awareness — which photographer and UArts professor John Woodin dubs "the natural unnatural landscape," and which sculptor Susan Benarcik pokes fun at in her cluster of Astroturf and wire-laced forms from nature. With artwork spanning three mediums — photography (pictured), installation art and drawing — "Sculpting Nature" collects Woodin's Long Island shots of net-strung nurseries and Benarcik's ironic "green-minded" installations alongside the surrealistic, earthy illustrations of horticulturist R. Noel Shaak. Fellows at the Center for Emerging Visual Artists, this trio calls upon myriad verdant aesthetics — some seed-planted, others mass-produced — to tackle the tensions of our controlled landscapes.