Austin's art scene is shifting expectations this month, proving that environmental art isn't just about doom and gloom. Nine exhibitions across the city are tackling our relationship with nature and technology in ways that feel fresh, playful, and surprisingly hopeful.
At Ivester Contemporary, Anya Molyviatis defies gravity with floating textile pieces that double as sound absorption technology, while Lisa Brawn at Yard Dog breathes new life into reclaimed wood through vibrant avian portraits.
Whether through ancient corn rituals or cutting-edge digital landscapes, these artists are offering a unique lens on how we connect with our world.
GrayDUCK Gallery
Anna Teiche: A Secret I Keep from Myself — through November 23
Teiche’s solo exhibition brings an unexpected lightness to weighty themes, exploring environmental change and personal health through landscape paintings. Her work features dynamic scenes of natural phenomena, from Pacific Northwest wildfires to geological formations, rendered in oils, gouache, and experimental techniques. Teiche’s distinctive approach transforms challenging subjects into vibrant, experimental spaces. The paintings merge intimate bodily forms with vast landscapes, often incorporating hidden layers beneath the surface.
Davis Gallery
Gladys Poorte: Amazon— through November 23
Poorte presents a collection of ethereal works created with acrylic on wood panel, digital photography, graphite, and colored pencil. The exhibition features otherworldly landscapes alongside abstract mechanical and metal structures. These pieces evoke a sense of both familiarity and otherworldliness, referencing elements of reality while simultaneously existing outside of it. Poorte's work demonstrates a striking emotional range, presenting landscapes of futuristic shapes, springs, and gears, situated on wide planes or in eerily lit rooms. Her work is a journey into a world of intricate detail and captivating imagery.
Ivester Contemporary
Anya Molyviatis: Elevate — through November 23
In "Elevate," Anya Molyviatis pushes the boundaries of textile art through masterfully crafted weavings. Each piece in this series transforms mohair and cotton into three-dimensional forms that appear to float off the wall. Drawing from her background in sustainable architecture and traditional weaving techniques, she crafts works that serve both aesthetic and functional purposes, naturally absorbing sound while creating contemplative visual experiences.
Jamal Hussain: Our Ever-Changing Eternal Landscapes — through November 23
Hussain transforms Ivester Contemporary's project space into a living meditation on our relationship with nature. Through innovative laser projection techniques, Hussain creates immersive environments where geometric patterns dance with organic forms, blending technology and natural elements. Drawing from his background in technology and his Indian heritage, Hussain crafts evolving digital landscapes that challenge viewers to consider their own role in our changing environment.
Yard Dog
Lisa Brawn: Birds— through November 30
In her striking exhibition, Lisa Brawn transforms reclaimed wood into vibrant avian portraits that blur the line between folk art and pop sensibility. Each woodcut captures not just the physical likeness of birds like the Cardinal and Wood Thrush, but somehow manages to convey their distinct personalities through precise, mosaic-like carving techniques. Brawn's innovative approach pairs meticulously carved wildlife with bold damask and geometric backgrounds, creating a fascinating tension between natural forms and controlled pattern work.
Flatbed Center for Contemporary Printmaking
Enrique Figueredo: "and the valley froze over" — through November 30
In this exhibition, Figueredo weaves personal nostalgia with sharp social commentary through intricately layered woodcuts. His ambitious series transforms a childhood Olympic bobsleigh fantasy into a powerful metaphor for Venezuela's economic turbulence, while examining broader themes of immigration, religion, and power structures. The centerpiece introduces three large-scale woodcut altarpieces, where Figueredo cleverly reimagines historical and contemporary figures as saints in Gothic niches, drawing parallels between ancient civilizations, mythology, and modern power dynamics.
The Contemporary Austin
Carl Cheng: Nature Never Loses — through December 8
Carl Cheng's genre-bending works bridge the gap between technological innovation and ecological consciousness, creating a unique dialogue that feels both playful and prophetic. His pieces combine industrial materials like LED lighting and plastic chassis with natural elements, creating living systems that blur the line between artificial and organic. Through these hybrid works, Cheng explores humanity's complex relationship with nature while maintaining a sense of whimsy and wonder. His mantra that "nature never loses" infuses each piece with a dual sense of warning and hope, as his installations interrogate our technological present while pointing toward possible ecological futures.
Big Medium
Group Exhibition:Once More, With Feeling — through December 14
This exhibition celebrates the dynamic Austin art community through a carefully curated selection of works that showcase the city's creative diversity. Featuring standout pieces by artists like Akirash, whose bold multimedia installations challenge spatial boundaries, and Elizabeth Chapin, known for her striking contemporary portraiture. Kemi Yemi-Ese's vibrant abstractions and Miguel Aragón's intricate process-based works demonstrate the exhibition's range. Curator Shea Little's deep connections within the art community are evident in this gathering of voices, from Fidencio Duran's narrative paintings to Erin Curtis's geometric explorations of pattern and color.
Austin Public Library
Luis Coss: Hijos del Maíz— through December 31
In his latest exhibition, Luis Coss weaves ancient pre-Hispanic mythology into contemporary cultural narratives through vibrant artworks that explore the enduring symbolism of corn in Mexican heritage. Drawing from the Popol Vuj's creation story, where divine beings crafted the first humans from maize, Coss connects tradition to modern religious practices and culinary customs. His work traces corn's journey from sacred origin story to its continued significance in Mexican life, creating visual narratives that bridge ancient mythology with present-day traditions.
