Terra Clendening: Nature is Calling to Us
May 17 – June 28, 2025 | Opening: Saturday, May 17 | 6-8 pm
Tierra del Sol Gallery is proud to present Nature is Calling to Us, the debut solo exhibition of Terra Clendening. With vivid urgency and tender reverence, Clendening paints what she calls “a meaning to the word nature.” Her works on paper are alive, infused with an unruly wilderness expertly rendered in chaotic brushstrokes.
The exhibition gathers her extensive wildlife paintings and illustrious depictions of cats, alongside a new series of portraits that depict friends set within eclectic, emotionally charged backgrounds. These portraits began as a question Clendening posed to those closest to her: if you could go anywhere, where would you go? The resulting works display the subject and their answers, whether they named an international city, the fantastical land known as the Shire, tropical beaches, the Swiss Alps, or even outer space. Within the context of Nature is Calling to Us, these compositions celebrate the interconnectedness of all living beings who call Earth home and affirm humankind as part of the animal kingdom.
The works that comprise Nature is Calling to Us are saturated with energy, yet strikingly confident in their form. The artist is known for her bold, expressive brushwork that teeters on the edge of abstraction, anchored by the vitality of her subjects. Deer mid-prance, cats vibrating with indignity, a hawk about to take flight—animated by the choreography of Clendening’s mark-making. Working in a mix of acrylic, marker, colored pencil, and surprising instances of collage, Clendening maintains a tactile immediacy—moments that feel ephemeral, unguarded, and true. At first glance, her dramatic application of media may come across as careless, even messy. Those who linger will be rewarded with small but glorious revelations: the complexity of a plant perfectly captured by a single brushstroke, or the unmistakable rhythm of the ocean’s tides, emerging like divine poetry from these earthly visions.
In addition to the prolific body of paintings filling the main gallery, Nature is Calling to Us will overtake Tierra del Sol’s Annex Space with an immersive installation. Clendening has converted the dark blue room into a larger-than-life aquarium complete with cardboard sculptures of fish, coral reefs, and all manner of ocean life. This compendium of aquatic creatures is a tender embodiment of Clendening’s devotion to Earth’s diverse living systems.
The exhibition will also feature several of Clendening’s handmade books that consist of dozens of original paintings and sketches loosely bound with glue and tape. One folio titled “The Pig Book” is a compilation of pig paintings inspired by the real animal and cartoons alike, highlighting Clendening’s wry sense of humor and vast catalogue of reference material. Another book, “President Symbols,” features several American politicians and the symbols the artist associates with their administrations, further aligning Clendening’s practice with a resolute mission of activism.
Nature is Calling to Us is abundant with offerings and outcry. This is art as praise and protest, a call to protect what remains. “Nature is calling to us, really calling,” Clendening says. “And when you hear her voice in the wind, or in the rain, in the storm—she is calling and you hear her. She’s right in front of you.”
Nature is Calling to Us opens Saturday, May 17th, with a reception from 6 to 8 pm. The exhibition is on view through June 28, 2025.
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