Details
Chimera: The Future of Nature is a series of animated films, dioramas and photography situated in ecologically stressed environments, inventing characters and objects that are assembled from unique biological debris. A work of hopeful regeneration, it is fueled by research in climate collapse and the ways living things evolve to meet the challenges of a rapidly shifting world.
The intention is to address a sense of wonder and loss, offering an experience of small and large worlds that are unseen or forgotten. Our ecosystems have the ability to remake themselves in times of great stress. The work contains the hope of a future of nature that embraces both the sadness of what is passing and a celebration of what will come.
Note: Chimera are fantasy creatures that feature parts of various animals. They appear in the mythological stories of cultures worldwide and are also found in plant and animal species as a hallmark of evolution.
About the Artist
Marcie Begleiter is a California-based artist whose work engages with stressed bio-systems. Her projects have received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, the Foundation for Art Resources and Germany’s Hamburger Kunsthalle. In 2024 she curated “Echoes of Voynich: Coded Systems in Contemporary Art” at Wönzimer Gallery, LA, which was part of Getty’s Pacific Standard Time “Art & Science Collide” program. Her work has been featured at the CICA Museum in Seoul, Korea, the Millennium Film Workshop in NY, the Center for Contemporary Art in Orange County, The Praxis Center for Photography in Minneapolis, and UC Santa Barbara. Residencies include the Banff Center for the Arts, the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology in Cascade Head, Oregon and an upcoming residency in Takeo, Japan where she will continue the Chimera series with research at Mount Aso, Japan’s largest active volcano.
In 2015 The Whitney Museum premiered her film, “Eva Hesse.” The feature documentary is a portrait of the 1960s artist’s life and work and after a theatrical run in North America and Europe was broadcast on PBS’ American Masters. In academia she was Founding Director of the Integrated Learning Program at Otis College of Art, Associate Professor at Art Center College of Design in the film department and on the founding faculty of the International Filmschule in Köln, Germany.
Related Programming
This exhibition is generously presented by
