Nature's Poem

Based on a protected estuary on the East End of Long Island, Joyce gathers materials directly from her environment—native grasses, pollinator plants, feathers, and handmade papers—embedding them into layered works that collapse the boundary between landscape and artwork. Her practice situates her within a lineage of artists engaging nature as both subject and material, from the transcendental vision of the Hudson River School to the materially driven work of Anselm Kiefer, while remaining distinctly intimate, lyrical, and process-driven.

At the center of the exhibition is Remembrance, a large-scale painting from her Surrendering to the Mystery series. Composed in layered blues with oil, mica, glass beads, and fragments of inherited lace, the work evokes cycles of memory, ancestry, and time. Concentric forms suggest both personal ritual and universal continuity. “My art is an invitation to enter and surrender to the mystery,” says Joyce. “Through these materials and forms, I hope to create a space for reflection, healing, and connection.”

The exhibition is conceptually informed by the poetry of Emily Dickinson, particularly her invocation of “the Bee, the Butterfly, and the Breeze”—a poetic triad that Joyce interprets as body, mind, and spirit. This framework quietly underpins the works on view, inviting reflection, stillness, and a deeper connection to the natural world. Joyce’s monoprint series, Nature’s Poem, for example, is created using botanical impressions from native pollinator plants such as milkweed, goldenrod, and asters. These works function as both ecological record and poetic abstraction, reinforcing the artist’s commitment to environmental awareness and preservation. “Stephanie moves beyond representation into embodiment—her works are not images of nature, but extensions of it,” said art advisor and curator Heidi Lee Komaromi.

In an effort to raise awareness around the conservation of bees and other critical pollinators, a portion of the proceeds will benefit the SoFo Natural History Museum’s Young Environmentalists Society (Y.E.S.). Joyce is also collaborating with Edwina Von Gal and Perfect Earth Project, which promotes ecological landscaping and pollinator-friendly practices. Pollinators are responsible for roughly one-third of global food production, yet their populations are in significant decline due to habitat loss and pesticide use—making conservation efforts increasingly urgent.

Through Nature’s Poem, Stephanie Joyce offers a body of work that is both materially grounded and spiritually resonant—an invitation to slow down, observe, and reconnect with the living world.

[Press Release by Heidi Lee Komaormi]

STEPHANIE JOYCE

STEPHANIE JOYCE