Trine Bumiller: Garden of Eden

June 16 - August 5, 2022

Images by Wes Magyar

Artist Statement

Growing up, my backyard was my connection to the natural world. There I found rich plantscapes reminiscent of the storied Garden of Eden. Emmanuel Art Gallery, a former Church and synagogue, was an apt setting to recreate this sacred garden with a personal focus. In this historic sanctuary “Garden of Eden” explores the vitality and life force of the plant kingdom in seventeen new abstract paintings developed over the last few years.

The exhibition imagines a verdant world at the peak of its growth season. Bountiful fruits and vigorous trees remind us of our current plight amid environmental chaos, manifested in the climate crisis, mass species extinctions, and vanishing habitat to support all life. We yearn for a time when the world was simpler, more predictable—a time of innocence and beauty. We want to return to the garden, a paradise where we felt young and protected.

A backdrop of striped walls, like the churches I saw in Italy as a student, suggest a walled garden containing brightly colored botanicals, the works designed to complement the spaces of the building. Each painting shows the ordinary plants I find in my everyday life and travels close to home. Some may even be considered weeds, but all are painted with care to elevate their status and give them the same consideration as the spiritual paintings in historic churches. The round paintings mirror the round gallery windows, like portals to the outside world. They also reference tondos that Renaissance painters reserved for religious subjects.

In the horizontal diptychs, the paintings suggest the four rivers mentioned in the bible and the two rivers that reference Denver’s birth as a city. The painting “Two Trees” imagines the two trees of the Garden of Eden: the tree of life and the tree of knowledge, and takes the place of an altar at the center of the gallery. The paintings also suggest stained-glass windows, using the vibrant oils that were invented in the Renaissance and layers of transparent oil glazes to create depth.

All of my work focuses on the idea of landscape and memory. This series combines ideas rooted in the historical garden but also connects to memories of the past and current landscapes of my own. At its heart, the exhibit is a call to honor, respect, and protect our natural world, or lose it forever.

Trine Bumiller, June 2022

Courtesy of the Robischon Gallery

Garden of Eden Opening Reception: June 16, 2022, 5:00 - 7:00 PM