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Putting together one of my “Biophilia” installations at Walker Fine Art in Denver. The opening is tonight- Friday, May 11, 5-9 pm @walkerfineart

A post shared by JULIE MAREN artist (@juliemaren) on May 11, 2018 at 7:32am PDT

Acorns! Yep, I thought I’d just jump right in with the answer to your question of, “Wha?”. This is just one of many, many, many installations by American artist Julie Maren. It’s part of an ongoing series, titled “Biophilia”, and was installed in 2018 at Walker Fine Art {Denver}. How many acorns, you ask? Just over 800 acorn tops, each one filled with colorful paint! LOVE. Here is Julie’s story about this work, and how it came to be:

“Biophilia is a metaphor for interconnectedness. Each Biophilia (acorn top filled with material) represents an individual, beautiful and complete on its own. A group of Biophilia represents the synergy of a community as a whole.

Acorns, as seeds, are symbols of growth and unlimited potential. Just as one seed can grow into a massive oak that can plant a whole forest, the acorn teaches us about our own potential and what/ how/ who we share with the world. Through this metaphor, Biophilia provides a reminder of this relationship and our interconnectedness with our larger community and world.

“Biophilia” wall-sculptures are the result of my journey to take my paintings out of the confines of traditional square and rectangular canvases. I found paint filled acorn tops to be the perfect vehicle to transcend the omnipresent dot patterns in my paintings, indicative of space and time—and transform them into expansive, multi-dimensional murmurations of color and shadow—like coordinates on a three-dimensional grid.”

Community, unlimited potential, and hundreds of colorful ‘dots’… could I love this more? Nope. {You have to watch that speedy install video above. So. Many. Acorns.}