Act Natural is an online Berlin Collectiv group exhibition, May 20 through June 18, 2022 featuring art work related to the natural world.

“The secret of the human condition is that there is no equilibrium between humans and the surrounding forces of nature, which infinitely exceed us when we remain in inaction; there is only equilibrium in action by which humans recreate our own life through work.”

-Simone Weil, “Gravity and Grace”

Act Natural explores the themes of perception, connection and acceptance of the natural world in which we inherently exist and act upon. Many artists in this exhibition find grace through their work in what is traditionally perceived as a conflict between humans and nature. Philosopher Alan Watts clarifies our position: “You didn’t come in this world. You came out of it, like a wave from the ocean.”

The artists in this fine art exhibition are Nicole Cohen, Martha Colburn, Valerie Fuchs, Alice Garik, Gwen Kerber, Paul Paiement and Stephen Wozniak. Stephen Wozniak curated the exhibition.

While the work of participating artists in “Act Natural” may appear different upon cursory glance, there are numerous formal overlaps that indicate each artist’s desire to create deliberate, necessary and ostensibly rich aesthetic elements that point to the poetry of their preferred themes: visual perception, subjective experience, human creativity, and nature at large.

In 2022, now in the throes of political unrest, loss of life, systemic discrimination, a worldwide pandemic, economic upheaval, and eroding self worth, it is imperative to provide new work that helps fine art audiences to connect with the natural world, reset their lives, redefine their value, resolve our nominal differences and reclaim the place we call home on earth.

I believe that this online exhibition will help by presenting the works of “Act Natural” to a diverse audience that seeks personal healing, a reconnection to the natural world, community unification and movement forward.