Meg Webster: Creating Art to Heal a Disconnected World

Meg Webster's latest exhibition, "Thicket," at Paula Cooper Gallery offers a multisensory experience, immersing visitors in natural sounds and scents before revealing a spiral installation of organic materials. This solo show, her first at the gallery in a decade, highlights her lifelong dedication to ephemeral, nature-based art. Webster, an 82-year-old environmental artist, strives to reconnect a public increasingly alienated from the natural world and fearful of its destructive potential due to climate change.

Her approach involves creating art from materials like beeswax, moss, branches, and flowers, which are recycled or returned to nature post-exhibition. This philosophy contrasts with the desire for permanence that Webster herself is increasingly contemplating, especially as she undergoes cancer treatment. Webster also has permanent works, such as "Stonefield" in Hudson River Park, offering a lasting connection to nature within urban settings.

Webster's work, often set in urban environments, diverges from the monumental scale favored by some male land artists. She emphasizes communing with nature rather than mastering it, caring for "twigs and the plants and the soil." Despite challenges, including the high maintenance her art requires and the ephemerality that impacts its historical recognition, Webster's commitment to fostering a love for the planet continues.