Memorial to a Time Before the Skies Turned Orange / Iviva Olenick

Iviva Olenick
Brooklyn, New York, United States
 
Memorial to a Time Before the Skies Turned Orange, 2025
Embroidery, plant mono-prints, and natural dyes on fabric, 18.5 × 32 in
 
Memorial to a Time Before the Skies Turned Orange is a textile work incorporating embroidery, natural dyes, and mono-prints derived from materials grown and gathered in collaboration with local farms and gardens. Drawing from indigo, goldenrod, sulfur cosmos, and other plants, the work reflects on ecological relationships between humans, flora, and urban environments. Referencing the 2023 wildfire smoke that turned New York’s skies orange, the piece holds both memory and warning, while emphasizing the resilience of plant life. By inverting scale between human figures and vegetation, the work suggests a shift in perspective, positioning humans as part of, rather than dominant over, ecological systems.
 
Iviva Olenick is an artist working across textiles, printmaking, and book arts, whose practice is rooted in collaboration with plants, land, and community. Through natural dyeing, foraging, and cultivation, she creates works that explore ecological interdependence and environmental care. 
 
$1500 USD