Z·inc Artist Collective's A Tangled Thicket opens at Surrey Art Gallery, April 5
Paintings and handcrafted installations by four Surrey artists revolve around the intersection of nature and humanity
SPONSORED POST BY Surrey Art Gallery
Detail view of Cora Li-Leger’s my starry night (2019-24), yarn, linen, cotton shirt fragments, and embroidery thread.
Detail view of Claire Moore’s Illuminated Pods (2025), paper, natural and plastic materials, motion sensor, and filament lights.
Surrey Art Gallery presents A Tangled Thicket, an exhibition by Z·inc Artist Collective that explores the relationship between nature and the human mind, from April 5 to June 8.
Curated by Rhys Edwards, A Tangled Thicket captures the ethos of connectivity that lies at the heart of Z·inc’s practice. Drawing on theories of ecology, neuroscience, and ontology (the study of being itself), each artist expounds on how nature and humanity shape each other.
Z·inc members Willa Downing, Lesley Garratt, Cora Li-Leger, and Claire Moore are united by a passion for community, craft, natural materials, and ecological consciousness. The group has supported collaborative art-making initiatives in Surrey for more than a decade.
Willa Downing’s Connectome (2025), twigs, yarn, and dental mirrors.
Across painting, drawing, sculpture, textile, and handmade installations, each artist alludes to the porousness of the supposed boundaries that separate humans from other species while examining our connection to nature. Citing inspirations such as neuroscientist Santiago Ramón y Cajal, ecologist Suzanne Simard, and local poet and author Aislinn Hunter, Z·inc’s works delve into all forms of matter, from the biochemical schemata of plant cells and brain neurons to the mycorrhizal networks of fungi, trees, animals, people, places, families, and memories.
Z·inc’s members constantly push the boundaries of their own practices, inviting responses in the form of interactive installations. The collaborative Objects for Pondering project encourages visitors to handle bespoke, handmade items—books, miniature figurines, ceramic sculptures, and memorabilia—that prompt personal reflection and meaning-making. Cultured:50, designed for Surrey Art Gallery’s 50th anniversary, includes 50 petri dishes filled with objects co-created by other artists south of the Fraser River.
Lesley Garratt’s I Followed the Advice of Water (2019), Conté on vellum.
Elsewhere, A Tangled Thicket includes works that celebrate the inherent craftsmanship of each artist’s approach, emphasizing organic materials, bodily sensation, and improvisation. Interactive sculptures by Moore and ink paintings by Garratt imagine vibrant worlds of anthropomorphic creatures, while artist books by Li-Leger and large-scale installations by Downing draw attention to the synergy between consciousness and history.
Join Z·inc for Spring Opening: Enter the Connectome Art Party on April 26, an artist talk on May 8, and a tour and poetry reading on June 7.
For more information, visit Surrey Art Gallery.
Post sponsored by Surrey Art Gallery.
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