Material World
A group exhibition

Have you ever sculpted with wasp paper… without getting stung, wielded a hammer to forge hot iron… without getting burned, or spun clay on a wheel to form a pot… worthy of your favorite Ficus? September brings you three artists who’ve done all those things and more. Material World celebrates nature’s unending bounty of art-making supplies. In an age increasingly defined by digital detachment and disposable everything, these artists are bringing us back to the tactile and the tangible with wood, iron, seed pods, twigs, dirt, and uh… wasp spit? Channel your inner tree hugger and experience works both functional and fictional, decorative and dainty, personal and powerful, heavy and heady. We promise you’ll be ready for some forest bathing afterward and may even find a new appreciation for those stinging F$#Wd!S.

Renee Adams constructs wall-mounted works that reference plant forms, growth patterns, and ecological systems. Using forged and fabricated steel and hand-shaped wooden forms, her work highlights the tension between organic life and industrial processes.

Michelle Elzinga explores the delicate yet potent intersection between nature, femininity, and resilience. Materials she uses are deeply symbolic—fragile yet enduring, organic yet transformative. Most of her work is wrapped in wasp nest paper, which speaks to the protective yet fragile nature of identity.

Lindsey Salmonson engages in a kind of geological storytelling, creating sculptural ceramic pots that appear unearthed from a parallel past – or future. Like tectonic plates or heaving mounds of forest duff each work mirrors her love of trees and plants while aiming to shed light on natural processes and the interconnectedness of ecosystems.

Upcoming Events on the PUNCH Stage

9/06: Chris King and the Gutterballs
(garage twang)

9/13: The Smilin’ Scandinavians
(polka)

9/20: The Canyoneros
(classic country)

9/27: Last Saturday!
Open ’til 8pm!
The Flat Rocks
(jazzy, bluesy Americana)
Food from Puff Puff Pizza