Reception May 5, 5:30-7pm; Show dates: March 1 - May 31, Tu-Fr, 2-6pm

Visual Aid presents an exhibition of works by four artists who examine the relationship between invented, mysterious or unknown living organisms with each other and their surroundings, within ecosystems. Ecosystems sustain every life-supporting function on the planet, including climate regulation, food, medicines and other natural features of historical, spiritual and scientific value. According to Wikipedia, ecosystems are adaptive systems where the interaction of life processes form self-organizing patterns across different scales of time and space.

In Burp, Jeff Shipley used various natural fibers, feathers, bark, twine and wire in a flowing installation that is a Zen-like meditation on birth, death and decay. Joel Hoyer's Exoskeletal Landscape paintings whose surfaces resemble ebonized animal hides are fictitious, topographical representations of slip faults, such as the San Andreas. Mark Paron's Fragile Flowers are inspired by microbiotic, organic, and synthetic objects, germs, food and other things we come in contact with in everyday life. Gary Weiss' Morphohedron is an open cube formed by a complex framework of lichen, pods and branches, whose interior suggests a fantastical world of natural serenity.

This exhibition was curated in collaboration with Gary Weiss and Jeff Shipley of IXIA, a renowned San Francisco floral design firm known for natural installations and surreal window displays.

For more about IXIA, visit http://www.ixia.com.