This exhibition evolved organically on multiple levels.  When I set out to introduce Celeste Roberge and Sophie Anna Gibbings, it turned out they had already known each other for many years.  And of course each is, in their own way, engaged deeply with natural materials, especially seaweed.  Finally, both have a deep connection with the coast of Maine, which makes this place on the shores of Penobscot Bay a fitting location.  Building on these connections, the collaboration between the artists evolved naturally, and I needed only to step to the sideline (shoreline?) and let the artists and their works speak to one another.

When I first visited Celeste’s studio, I was struck by the residual power of two series included in this exhibition:  8 Days a Week and Yoga Drawings, both produced several decades ago, when Celeste was close to Sophie’s current age.  In these series, Celeste presents her body with both candor and curiosity, exploring different postures and parallels with natural forms, from pyrite pebbles to seaweed.  Even when she conjures up an eccentric fashion show in 8 Days a Week, the artist stands impassively, unconcerned by the viewer’s gaze.  She lets the seaweed be the star of the show, whether efflorescing or even erasing her.

In Becoming Ocean, Sophie projects a video of herself swimming in the ocean on a small copper disk, suspended onto woven seaweed.  We are allowed to glimpse a moment of private reverie, captured by a camera on shore, set to record by the artist.  For both artists, nature is a co-creator, not a mere muse, resource, or backdrop as it might have been in earlier periods, or in different hands.  And what we witness as viewers is an intimate dialogue, one which invites us to immerse ourselves in the same sea.  And become ocean.