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The Deering Estate’s Spring Contemporary exhibition Closer to Nature explores concepts of queer ecofeminism: intersections of queer theory, feminism, race, science, and nature. The exhibition shares works that deal with experiences of looking for/finding oneself in nature and expanding the environments for queer existence to thrive. The exhibition is curated by guest curator Summer Jade Leavitt.
The works in the exhibition range from sculpture, installation, poetry, performance, artifact, and video will sprawl across the Estate’s grounds and in the Great Hall of the Stone House. The media and materials the artists use here, including somatic poetry rituals, spell work, living sculpture, drag, performance art, and ephemeral artifacts challenge tradition, using experimental methods for creating, writing, thinking, and performing. These works observe oppressive structures, embody defiance, and provide the antidote to their restraints. Looking into the hidden, unseen, impossible, extinct, and unknown, the artists here exemplify what it means to be queer: to give language to a world larger than the one we find ourselves in.
In Greta Gaard’s essay Toward a Queer Ecofeminism, Gaard dissects the contradictions in culturally constructed binaries that were used to justify colonialism and enforce hierarchy; in dualisms, human/nature, reason/emotion, mind/spirit, the oppressed groups are seen in Western culture as “closer to nature”, yet queerness is frequently devalued for being “against nature”. While this implies that nature is valued and protected, recent environmental disasters and climate crisis demonstrates otherwise.
In these colonial structures, that which wanders outside of reason, order, rationality, and production is punished and subordinated. To reject that colonization requires embracing the natural in all its diversity and collaborating to create shared liberation.
Exhibiting artists include Tsohil Bhatia, CA Conrad, Christy Gast, GeoVanna Gonzalez, Kasem Kydd, Kunst, Lee Pivnik, Dani Janae and The Queer Theory Library, and X Medianoche.
The opening reception for Closer to Nature will be on Saturday, April 15, 2023 from 3 -8pm. Guests are invited to experience a performance by artist Kunst during the opening reception. Closer to Nature will be on display from April 15th, 2023 to June 11th, 2023.
Exhibition reception is free with RSVP on Eventbrite.
About Summer Jade Leavitt
Summer Jade Leavitt is an artist and writer thinking about queer histories, lineages, and futures. They are currently the Director of a nomadic gallery they’ve founded called The Queer Theory Library.
About the Deering Estate
Deering Estate, located at 16701 SW 72 Ave. in Miami, is a 21st Century house museum, cultural and ecological field station, and a national landmark listed on the National Register of Historic Places, owned by the State of Florida and managed by Miami-Dade County Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Department. Deering Estate is designated as one of seven Miami Dade County “Heritage Parks” which have a vital role in our community’s history, environment and in providing recreational and cultural experiences.
About the Deering Estate Foundation
For those who treasure the Deering Estate, who advocate for its preservation and wish to invest in its future, The Deering Estate Foundation provides opportunities for individuals and corporations alike to partake in membership, signature events, and one-of-a-kind experiences, all in service of providing vital funding and support to the Deering Estate. Established in 1989, The Deering Estate Foundation, Inc. is a community-based charitable 501(c) 3 Florida Corporation and the philanthropic partner of the Deering Estate.
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