This exhibition is a collection of plant-based sculpture and assemblage created by Britton Neubacher, M.A. (B.A. and M.A. in Women’s Studies with a focus on community organizing) and full-time artist. Neubacher’s sustainably-minded work explores nature’s organizing principles of adaptation, integration, and renewal through fractal geometries and “suspended animation” materials. This show is hosted by Cal State University at San Marcos in the Kellogg Library and runs through July 23rd, 2023. It is free and is open to the public.

https://biblio.csusm.edu/context-library-series/neubacher/
‍

“Organized Chaos” is a sustainably minded botanical showcase drawing on the healing effects of plant fractals and sacred geometry. Botanical artist Britton Neubacher employs “power” shapes, the Fibonacci sequence, and Op Art visuals to offer a mesmerizingly immersive space for healing and transcendence inside our challenging times.

A focus on preserved mosses, plants, and foliage moves us beyond single-use materials into more focused conversations between people and nature. Fecund and untamed elements are juxtaposed with the geometry of nature’s organizing principles, illustrating the intimate relationship between chaos and order. What feels like a chaotic breakdown of our bodies and our planet could be fertile composting material for more optimized systems of wellness. “Organized Chaos” and its focus on ecological sustainability offers a hopeful view into all life as regenerative and learning in every moment, even as it seemingly unravels.

Neubacher’s installation is creatively inspired by the optical illusion artist Vasarely, Altarpiece No. 1 by artist-mystic Hilma af Klint, and the “higher ground” permaculture mounds supporting medicinal flowers and herbs. The pyramid shape stimulates plant growth, going back to the gardening techniques of ancient Egypt, and remains a mystical symbol for life after death. Physically, pyramids have a strong ionization effect within the body, producing negative ions that in turn strengthen well-being. It is said that meditating or just taking a nap under a pyramid helps to synchronize the seven central energy centers of the body. The form is grounding and ascending at once.

Like the pyramid, human bodies are a meditation between the earth and the cosmos. “Organized Chaos” celebrates the growth edge always alive within the natural world and the transformation that’s possible as we walk along it.

‍