Laguna Art Museum unveils 11th Annual Art & Nature on November 2

Laguna Art Museum (LAM) will present the 11th Annual Art & Nature, an immersive journey into the symbiotic relationship between art and the natural world. The Art & Nature initiative addresses the environmental situation through a creative and unique lens – the artist’s perspective. Beginning November 2, this transformative multidisciplinary event will converge art, science and nature on a grand scale. Art & Nature is the museum’s largest public program of the year, bringing together thousands of participants to foster a love of nature, raise environmental awareness and discover cross-sections between science and the arts.

At the heart of Art & Nature 2023 stands Cristopher Cichocki, the visionary artist whose outdoor installation Rising Inversion will debut at Laguna’s Main Beach on November 2-5. Rising Inversion harnesses oceanic and planetary elements engaging in direct dialogue with the surrounding natural landscape of Laguna Beach. From dawn to dusk, this transformative installation morphs from a sprawling arc of sand and barnacles into a luminescent orb rising over the Pacific shoreline. This synergy encircled within the elements of water and light will illuminate throughout the night in a phosphorescent glow powered from the residual energy of the sun.

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Photo by Lance Gerber

Cristopher Cichocki in his studio

Cichocki is a trailblazing multidisciplinary artist renowned for exploring the cyclical patterns of decay and rejuvenation within the intricate tapestry of human-nature interactions. His trajectory of work spans the realms of painting, land art, sound art and natural science – encompassing eras from ancient oceans to present-day deserts.

“The 11th Annual Art & Nature unites us all in celebrating the profound connections we can make to understanding the natural world through creativity,” said Julie Perlin Lee, executive director of Laguna Art Museum. “As a testament to our museum’s unique heritage as a center for the appreciation of artistic sensibility towards nature, the events of Art & Nature honor our commitment to embracing environmental awareness through contemporary art, our desire to present immersive and though-provoking programming for all and to support bold artistic experimentation to create a better world.”

Art & Nature will include Cichocki’s Circular Dimensions, a multi-sensory audiovisual performance that will activate onto Rising Inversion on the evening of Saturday, Nov. 4. Running concurrently to Rising Inversion from November 2-26, Cichocki will present: Primordial Water, a solo exhibition of the artist’s latest work showcased at Laguna College of Art + Design’s LCAD Gallery located near the museum. Additionally, a new decade of Art & Nature is being ushered in with a dynamic schedule of events including the annual free Family Festival.

Multidisciplinary artist Cichocki encapsulates the cycle of decay and renewal through examining relationships between humankind, the natural world and industrial mutation. The scope of Cichocki’s self-defined New Earth Art underlines the increasingly toxic global environment confronting our planet in the new millennium. Within his site-responsive practice, Cichocki generates new ecosystems configured between organic and synthetic materials and sounds. His aesthetic invokes opposites; the desert is submerged underwater, while macrocosms enter the view of a microscopic lens. All of these elements culminate into Circular Dimensions – Cichocki’s ever-evolving series of audiovisual performances showcased within the framework of live performances and multi-sensory installation environments.

Cichocki attended CalArts and Yale Norfolk School of the Art. Hailing from the Coachella Valley, he has explored the depths of the California desert over the past three decades, while generating exhibitions and performances throughout North America, South America, Asia and Europe that include the Museum of Image & Sound (São Paulo), Biennale Urbana (Venice), Casa França Brasil (Rio de Janeiro), Platforme (Paris), Museum of Photographic Arts (San Diego), Museum of Moving Image (New York) and the Coachella Music and Arts Festival (Indio). His work is held in many permanent and private collections including the J. Paul Getty Museum, Palm Springs Art Museum and Lancaster Museum of Art. In 2014, Cichocki founded the curatorial platform Epicenter Projects that has recently partnered with the Paris-based Fondation LAccolade - Institut de France to create THE ELEMENTAL, a contemporary center for the arts located in Palm Springs focused on building intersections of art, science and environment.

Continuing Laguna Beach’s legacy as a center for the arts, Art & Nature provides a unique opportunity for the Southern California community to come together for a festival of art and ideas, to inspire artists and enhance the appreciation of nature as a place that inspires awareness about the environment we share.

For more information, visit www.lagunaartmuseum.org.

Laguna Art Museum is located at 307 Cliff Drive, Laguna Beach.