By immortalizing nature’s own orchid masterpieces, Patricia Laspino’s work seeks to enhance the understanding of our past and present infatuations with orchid species, and illuminate future expectations for our interaction with these magnificent plants.
Stamford Museum & Nature Center has recently announced “Global Garden: Resonant Beauty,” an exhibition featuring the oil paintings, etchings, and drawings of Patricia Laspino. The exhibition will be on view in the Stamford Museum’s Bendel Galleries through March 21, 2021. Throughout February, the Global Garden exhibition will feature “Saturdays with the Artist,” with Laspino on-site at the Stamford Museum & Nature Center.
Over her 40 year career, Laspino has developed a signature style that entwines dozens of layers of transparent oil color glazes over a sculptural groundwork of botanical impressions. Her art is the cornerstone of the “Orchid Alliance Project—Bridging Art & Science,” an environmental effort she says has important national and international significance in the art and science communities. Her large-scale paintings use orchids symbolically to raise awareness for environmental stewardship and convey the interconnectedness of humanity and nature.
“The Orchid Alliance Project seeks to increase advocacy and appreciation for the natural world by interweaving the historical, biological and cultural significance of the orchid species through the vehicle of art,” said Laspino. “The abundant cultural presence of the orchid, as demonstrated by the cultivation of thousands of species and hybrids, is a testament to the collective passion this plant species has inspired worldwide for over 2,500 years.”
Laspino believes exploring ancient attitudes about orchids and their function, through the lens of art and culture, may shed some light on the present power orchids have on us – a power she believes can transform our future in terms of global stewardship.
“Patricia’s work marries together art and science, and makes it tangible in a way that people can receive and perceive,” said Jillian Casey, Curator of Collections & Exhibitions for the Stamford Museum & Nature Center. “Her orchid paintings explore and inform the viewer of the complex interdependencies and careful balances inherent in environments of orchids, which include every continent except for Antarctica.”
“We’re delighted host ‘Global Garden: Resonant Beauty’ as the first full exhibition of our 85th anniversary year,” said Melissa H. Mulrooney, Executive Director & CEO of the SM&NC. “Patricia Laspino’s floral portraits convey the interconnectedness of humanity and the natural world and are designed to be the storytellers of nature’s wonders.”
For more information, visit www.stamfordmuseum.org.
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