On Saturday, October 12th from 12:00 PM – 6:00 PM the artist, Amie Potsic, will be in attendance for a meet and greet. This event is free and open to the public.
Girl in the Garden: Danger in Paradise is a solo exhibition of new work by Amie Potsic addressing climate change through the complex viewpoints of girlhood, deforestation, and Magical Realism. With site-specific installations, photographs, and mixed media works, Potsic collaborates with Hot Bed, a unique fine art and horticulture gallery, to produce an incarnate exploration of female identity, the forested lifeblood of our planet, and the fate of humankind.
After photographing her daughter in the lush forests of the northeastern United States, the artist traveled to Paradise, California and surrounding forests (located upwind from her extended family’s home) to photograph the complete devastation caused by the deadliest wildfire in the state’s history. Personal experience underscoring the urgency climate change, Potsic intertwines visions of girlhood in a magical environment with nature’s unprecedented destruction caused by wildfires.
Harnessing the power of imagination, Potsic’s work is a call to action. Visitors will find shared resources for taking environmental action in their own lives, distinguishing this show from many fine art exhibitions on climate. From the artist’s perspective, the time for concern has given way to a time for swift and meaningful action.
Amie Potsic, MFA is an accomplished photographer and installation artist living in the Philadelphia area whose work addresses cultural, personal, and natural phenomena through the lens of climate change and social responsibility. Potsic has exhibited her work internationally at the Art Park in Rhodes, Greece; Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá, Colombia; Medfoundart di Cagliari, Italy; the Royal College of London; the Museum of New Art in Detroit; The Woodmere Art Museum, The National Constitution Center Museum, The Painted Bride and James Oliver Gallery in Philadelphia; Mission 17 in San Francisco; and 626 Gallery in Los Angeles. She won Best in Show for her work in Experimental Photography Today at The Delaware Contemporary in 2015 and was featured in Keystone 1, the first Pennsylvania Photography Biennial, at Silver Eye Center for Photography in Pittsburgh the same year. Her work has been published in The San Francisco Chronicle, Art Matters, The Photo Review, and The Philadelphia Inquirer. Potsic received her MFA in Photography from the San Francisco Art Institute and BA’s in Photojournalism and English Literature from Indiana University. She has held faculty appointments at the University of California at Berkeley, Ohlone College, and the San Francisco Art Institute and has been a guest lecturer at The University of the Arts, Ursinus College, and The International Center of Photography. Potsic is currently the CEO and Principal of Amie Potsic Art Advisory, LLC providing visionary and advisory support to artists, collectors, businesses, and institutions with expertise in Legacy Planning and Fine Art Appraisals. She is also Chair of the Art in City Hall Artistic Advisory Board to the Office of Arts and Culture of the City of Philadelphia.