Carmen Ostermann’s “I Am One Of Those Animals” exhibition is on display at the Cultural Arts Center in downtown Columbus. Credit: Jake Holler
Inspired by humanity’s relationship with nature and the contrast between beauty and destruction, artist Carmen Ostermann presents her first solo show, “I Am One Of Those Animals,” at the Cultural Arts Center.
The Cultural Arts Center, located at 139 W. Main St., showcases Ostermann’s collection of porcelain ceramics, fiber embroidery and illustrations with an emphasis on birds and ornithology — the scientific study of birds. Through her creations, Ostermann said she strives to depict the tension between life, death and rebirth in nature.
“I’m really interested in combining soft and hard, so like, ceramic and fiber work,” Ostermann said. “I’m constantly observing how we interact with and treat nature and relate to it and how nature reacts to us, and I think that this relationship is just vital to our existence and who we are.”
Selected from a pool of 65 applicants to participate in one of 12 exhibitions over the course of the 2023-24 season, Ostermann’s sculptures were ranked first overall by Cultural Arts Center jurors, Exhibition Coordinator Tom Baillieul said.
“It’s no wonder the jury panel put her at the top of the list,” Baillieul said. “She’s combined a beautiful art form — the porcelain ceramics and the incredible detail in her bird figures — but with a very, very strong ecological message about what humans are doing to habitats, wildlife.”
Many of Ostermann’s fragile works are displayed in ways that defy the laws of gravity, she said. One piece depicting a trumpeter swan rests on a blue circular wooden dial hanging from the wall.
“It’s held up by threads — thousands and thousands of threads — but it’s a ceramic porcelain swan, so it’s literally weaving together fiber and clay,” Ostermann said.
Another collection of wall-hanging pieces — three porcelain swallows — include what Ostermann calls “nodes,” textured patterns and growths symbolizing nature’s circle of life. Ostermann said her pieces were inspired by the concept of ecological succession — the new life or birth that happens after habitat destruction.
Baillieul said he was impressed by the way Ostermann designed these nodes to represent ecological processes in nature.
“On the feathers of the birds, she started putting things like fungal growth or barnacles basically saying, in the natural world when an animal dies, other life forms arise to consume that dead form,” Baillieul said. “She’s making a point about how extinction feeds new life.”
In Ostermann’s exhibition statement, she discusses the purpose of “I Am One Of Those Animals” and contextualizes the exhibition’s name and theme.
“We’re currently experiencing the Anthropocene extinction, the ongoing great sixth mass extinction in which a large number of living species are threatened or eliminated entirely due to environmentally destructive human activities,” Ostermann said. “Considering that this is the first biotic crisis caused by an animal and not by a natural event and that ‘I am one of those animals’ has strongly steered me towards my current practice.”
In her exhibition statement, Ostermann discusses research surrounding the endangerment and extinction of birds. No other class of vertebrates has suffered more extinctions, Ostermann said.
“I’m a human, I exist on this Earth, and I’m living my life, and I’m just seeing and noticing and acknowledging how we’re impacting other animals and species,” Ostermann said. “So, it’s also just kind of a depiction of this journey of grappling with this relationship and making work in reaction to it over the past couple of years.”
According to a 2021 study by Tel Aviv University and the Weizmann Institute, birds have undergone a “major extinction event” over the last 20-50,000 years. Humans have caused the extinction of up to 20 percent of all avian species, according to the study.
Ostermann said she hopes “I Am One Of Those Animals” will help visitors see the world differently, giving them an opportunity to reflect on their relationship with nature and the status of habitat destruction.
“The work is very intricate and detailed, so I hope it allows them to give their attention and pause and have this moment of respect and wonder and awe for nature and for the beauty of it,” Ostermann said.
With a background in environmental science, Baillieul said he is appreciative of Ostermann’s artistic goal and message.
“I’m in love with what she’s done,” Baillieul said. “She’s figured out a way to get her viewers to pause a minute and reflect on what’s happening and what humans are causing in the world in terms of habitat destruction.”
After more than two years working to complete her collection, Ostermann said she hopes her attention and dedication to her concept will be visibly noticeable to viewers.
“I’ve put my heart and soul into this show,” Ostermann said. “My work is labor intensive, and I think of that labor as an offering of my time to the natural world in a way to respect and reflect and think on it.”
“I Am One Of Those Animals” will be on display at the Cultural Arts Center through March 4 in the main gallery.
