Shift: Adapting with Change and Resilience

Denison University’s Sustainability Office, the Denison Museum, and faculty across disciplines have worked together over the past year to create an exhibition and program series for Fall 2023 centered around the concepts of resilience and change. Ideas of transformation, growth, and adaptability are central themes in understanding and navigating change. This exhibition features three international contemporary artists-Mulyana, Zinaida, and Shinji Turner-Yamamoto-whose work showcases personal narratives, historical events, and natural phenomena that exemplify resilience in facing challenges.

Mulyana’s (b.1984, Bandung, Indonesia) colorful, immersive knitted seascape installation symbolizes current global, social, and environmental concerns (e.g., fast fashion), and inspires a renewed responsibility for both nature and humanity. Zinaida’s (b.1975, Ukraine) video project, The Rooted 2.0, is an extensively researched ethnography detailing the life of the Polishchuks (an ethnic group of the Polissia region) in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, and how they persevere despite challenging circumstances. Shinji Turner-Yamamoto’s (b.1965, Japan, US) sculptures contain kernels of natural elements, such as fossils and minerals, which he transforms into captivating new objects that serve as meditations on humanity’s relationship with our environment.

Although their techniques and media vary greatly, these artists all strive to inspire us to shift our gaze outward, to start meaningful dialogue and adapting to a changing world, and what it means to be truly resilient.

This exhibition was made possible through the generous support of Campus Sustainability, Sapar Contemporary, Mulyana, Zinaida, and Shinji Turner-Yamamoto