Biophilia

Barbara Baer and Amelia Furman: Biophilia: Love of Life

The Lincoln Center Art Gallery 

417 W. Magnolia, Fort Collins, CO 80521

February 14–April 11, 2025

Admission: free

Review by Dani/elle Cunningham

Barbara Baer and Amelia Furman are paired in the exhibition Biophilia: Love of Life for their shared affinity for nature and their use of multimedia, resulting in an energetic show at the Lincoln Center Art Gallery in Fort Collins that offers a range of experiences from fixed to immersive. Both artists replicate aspects of the natural world, emphasizing interconnected experiences while creating space for the emergence of new narratives. Through their distinct yet complementary approaches, Baer and Furman invite viewers to engage with the natural world and each other in thought-provoking ways, blending time, environment, and the human experience.

Barbara Baer, Becoming, metal, acrylic paint, and lights, located on the exterior of the Lincoln Center in Fort Collins.. Image by DARIA.

Before entering the main galleries of the exhibition, visitors encounter a public art installation by Baer. Becoming, a striking addition to the Lincoln Center’s exterior was created as part of the City of Fort Collins' Art in Public Places program, which designates one percent of certain construction projects to art. Positioned facing Mulberry Street and the parking lot where most people enter, the artwork establishes an immediate visual connection between the public and this institution.

A view of the installation of Barbara Baer’s public artwork Becoming at the Lincoln Center in Fort Collins. Image by DARIA.

The curving lines of the installation flow across the building’s surface, mirroring the dynamic creative activity happening inside. As day turns to night, the installation’s reflective white metal facade transforms, becoming a canvas for projected colored lights that spotlight the Lincoln Center and enhance its architectural presence in the area. 

Barbara Baer, Canopy, printable plastic film. Image by DARIA.

A detail view of Barbara Baer’s Canopy. Image by DARIA.

Inside the building’s main gallery, Baer’s work takes on a more intimate form with large installations evoking the natural world. Canopy brings together imagery of Aspen groves, printed on material that contrasts with and even decimates nature: plastic. The delicate images of trees against a clear blue sky are printed on small squares of draped plastic film, cascading from one wall to another in a flowing display that invites viewers to walk around the artwork and physically experience it. The positioning of the installation in a corner raises intriguing questions about the nature of corners as spaces—are they boundaries, or do they serve as opportunities to embrace art in a more intimate, enveloping way?

Barbara Baer, Chestnut, organdy and buckram fabrics and music wire. Image by DARIA.

Baer’s diverse materials and themes become even more apparent as the exhibition continues. Chestnut presents a vivid combination of colors—orange, brown, and yellow — evoking the warmth and decay of fall. These printed silk panels are surrounded by cut-out flattened chestnut designs, with fringed edges that suggest the tactile nature of chestnuts as natural objects and evoke the sense of movement one might feel when encountering chestnut trees in nature.

A detail view of Barbara Baer’s Chestnut. Image by DARIA.

Adding to Baer’s ability to highlight depth, the central slit in these objects resembles an open mouth, inviting further metaphorical interpretation about growth, death, and the passage of time.

Barbara Baer, Curtain, acrylic sheets, pigment, and lights, a public artwork at the Lincoln Center in Fort Collins. Image by DARIA.

One of the more striking visual experiences highlighted in the exhibition is Baer’s Curtain, which, like Becoming, was created as part of Fort Collins’ public art initiative. Here, Baer paints thick black lines on 20 translucent acrylic panels on one side and clouds rendered in vibrant colors on the other. The panels are illuminated with soft blue lights, enhancing the quality of the acrylic while casting an ethereal glow along the curved wall. The use of iridescent copper pigments further intensifies the allure, drawing viewers to the delicate interplay of color and texture.

Barbara Baer, Sun Lit, polycarbonate sheets. Image by DARIA.

Adding to Baer’s tendency to illuminate aspects of nature, the artist’s Sun Lit installation stands out for its brightness, with panels of magenta, red, and lime green topped with a butterfly motif. Rendered in black and white, the dramatic butterfly creates a graphic contrast and an almost surreal quality, as if the butterfly is moving between realms of color and shadow. The relationship of these colors emphasizes Baer’s interest in transformation, growth, and the beauty of nature.

Barbara Baer, Water Born, organdy fabric and river water. Image by DARIA.

A detail view of Barbara Baer’s Water Born. Image by DARIA.

Addressing this concept further in Water Born, Baer highlights the significance of water to the landscape of Colorado. Four sets of hanging panels feature abstract designs, each connected to jars of river water that are secured to a single, short pedestal on the floor. The water is sourced from rivers significant to the region: Platte, Mississippi, Missouri, and Colorado. The panels are printed on organdy fabric, and each features unique imagery, including abstract depictions of poison dart and harlequin frogs.

Barbara Baer, Willow, charcoal on shipping labels. Image by DARIA.

A detail view of Barbara Baer’s Willow. Image by DARIA.

The simplest of the works in this exhibition, Willow presents a large charcoal drawing on shipping labels. The rawness of the medium contrasts with the precision of the imagery, inviting viewers to reflect on the relationship between consumerism and nature, as well as the layers of meaning embedded in everyday objects.

An installation view of Amelia Furman’s works in Biophilia at the Lincoln Center in Fort Collins. Image by DARIA.

In the adjacent gallery, Amelia Furman uses oil paint on paper collage to create multi-dimensional works that invite viewers into her reflections on the passage of time, its inevitable intertwining with the natural world, and humanity's relationship to both. Through subtle imagery and thoughtful compositions, Furman uses time as both an omnipresent force and an element that is difficult to define, reflecting on its present yet fleeting and untouchable construction.

Amelia Furman, The Waiting Tree, paper collage and oil paint on panel. Image by DARIA.

In The Waiting Tree, Furman depicts a faint, feminine figure in the background, accompanied by Roman numerals on a clock, establishing a powerful connection to time’s unyielding march. The foreground features the leaves of a tree, which evoke the cyclical process of life, decay, and renewal—a vivid reminder of how time shapes everything around us. This pairing of the feminine form with natural imagery suggests a broader narrative about life’s phases and the inextricability of humanity from nature.

Amelia Furman, There is Rest for You, paper collage and oil paint on panel. Image by DARIA.

Following this, There is Rest for You positions a clock subtly in the background, serving as a constant reminder that time is always moving forward. In the foreground, a bee pollinates a newly blossoming flower, illustrating both the fleeting nature of life and the delicate balance of nature’s processes. Furman’s depiction of time here is linear, reflecting a culturally rooted understanding of time as a measurable entity, progressing steadily and predictably.

Amelia Furman, Well Spring, paper collage and oil paint on panel. Image by DARIA.

Furman’s exploration of the seasonal cycle becomes more visually complex in Well Spring, where fall-like leaves, tinged with orange, are surrounded by the vibrant green leaves of new growth. Symbolizing the intersection of the old and the new, the faint clock imagery lingers in the background, subtly weaving the thread of time throughout the artwork as the natural world transitions from one season to the next.

Amelia Furman, Offering, paper collage and oil paint on panel. Image by DARIA.

Furman’s approach takes on a more introspective tone in Offering, in which she places a single orange leaf centrally on a background of collage elements, obscuring text and imagery. The texts seem to be sourced from religious and botanical materials, creating a profound connection between spirituality and nature because of which this work evokes the magnitude of both. Offering suggests that time, like nature, holds a spiritual dimension that viewers might often overlook.

Amelia Furman, Keep Me in the Light, paper collage and oil paint on panel. Image by DARIA.

Finally, in Keep Me in the Light, a tangled tree branch covered in white powdery strands of what appear to be snow dominate the piece, with cursive text collaged in the background. As in her previous works, the clock imagery appears faintly, but here it is joined by obscure human faces, adding a layer of mystery and introspection.

A detail view of the panel edge of Amelia Furman’s Keep Me in the Light. Image by DARIA.

The sheet music along the side of the panel is another nod to the passage of time, as music itself is a form of time-keeping—the notes, rhythms, and tempo flowing like the natural cycles Furman is so intent on capturing.

An installation view of Barbara Baer’s works in Biophilia. Image by DARIA.

Collectively, Barbara Baer and Amelia Furman create a reflective exhibition that explores the impact of time, humans, and nature, respectively. Through their diverse mediums, both artists invite viewers to consider the complexity of these themes, offering an exhibition that moves beyond the visual into the realm of emotional and intellectual engagement. Together, they challenge us to rethink our relationship with the abstract elements of life we experience daily, questioning boundaries and creating space for new modes of thought and interaction.

Dani/elle Cunningham (she/her) is an artist, scholar, and independent curator. She writes about science fiction, gender, sexuality, and disability, with an emphasis on mental illness. The co-founder of chant cooperative, an artist co-op, she holds a master’s degree in art history and museum studies from the University of Denver.