Exhibition Dates: January 24th – April 24th, 2025.
Opening Reception and Artist Talk: Wednesday February 26th from 4:30 – 6 PM.
Artist Workshop Dates: Monday February 24th and Tuesday February 25th.
Closing Ceremony Date and Planting: Wednesday, April 23rd at 2:30 PM in the gallery, followed by a planting in the Murphy Gardens in Murphy Hall.
Location: The Patricia O’Keefe Ross Gallery at St. John Fisher University, The Joseph S. Skalny Welcome Center, 3690 East Avenue, Rochester, NY, 14618.
Gallery Hours: 9 AM – 4 PM, Monday – Friday.
More Info: Earth’s Voices by installation artist Judith Modrak

“Earth’s Voices” is an immersive, eco-inspired sculptural exhibition by New York City-based artist Judith Modrak at The Patricia Ross O’keefe Gallery at St. John Fisher University (January 24th – April 24th). The installation explores vital connections to our environment and to each other. In the center of the gallery, three painted Guardian sculptures gaze into a reflection pool, surrounded by leaves, tree branches, hydrangea, sweet gum seedlings, and other organic materials. These anthropomorphic, plant-like Guardians represent three of the four classical elements of the universe: Fire (orange), Earth (green) and Air (blue). The fourth element, Water, is intimated by the pond-like configuration.

Earth’s Voices by installation artist Judith Modrak. Human sized, plant-like Guardians represent three of the four classical elements of the universe: Fire (orange), Earth (green) and Air (blue).

This immersive installation is loosely arranged to suggest the earth’s inner core, the layers in between, and the outside crust. The topography of the exhibition invites viewers to consider in-between states, both symbolically and physically, as they move in a circular pattern.

The curly willow branches, surrounding the gallery’s perimeter, are rooted in assorted pieces of Locust and Maple trees from the SJFU campus. These plant arms extend up the walls to cradle mirrored shrine enclosures which display sculptural totems created during artist led workshops with SJFU students, faculty, and the larger community on February 24th and February 25th.

Sculptural personages are an integral part of the installation and were created during workshops with SJFU students/faculty and Valley Manor residents.

“Earth’s Voices” operates on multiple planes – sensory, meditative, metaphoric, and linguistic.

The participatory workshops give voice to the new eco-language being developed around climate change. Totems were sculpted to honor specific terms such as “Terra-furie” (protective anger at how the earth is being treated), “Solastalgia” (homesickness while at home), “Biophilia” (love of all life forms), and other evolving words, as a means of recognizing these emotional and existential experiences. These sensations and feelings are confronting and shaping humans and all organisms. The totems will be planted with seeds and other live plant growth outdoors during a closing ceremony on April 24th.

“Earth’s Voices” is a collaborative artwork which connects us viscerally and spiritually to one another and to our beloved Mother Earth.

Special thanks to SJFU Professor Mike Boller’s Sustainability Club, family, and friends who provided foliage from New York State, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and California.

Many of the eco-terms used in Earth’s Voices were coined by the visionary environmental philosopher Glenn Albrecht in his seminal book: “Earth Emotions, New Words for a New World”.