Riverland Community College

Although the current James Wegner Gallery exhibit, "Natura", takes as its starting point the Minnesota prairie, artist Michael Grenier does not present us with simple or obvious representations of the landscape. Rather, the show is an innovative, multi- media exploration that attempts to bring forward the elemental around us, revealing relationships between nature's forms and powers, and demonstrating material correspondences between the show and it's subject. According to the artist, the forms, materials and imagery for "Natura" all derive from Southern Minnesota.  

By using media such as charcoal (both the traditional artist variety used in evocative drawings, as well as burned chunks of firewood used in sculpture), and the application of digital photography to acoustic tilesmade from corn-based products, Grenier's work provokes thought about interconnectedness. For the artist, the prairie offers a place of contemplation and spiritual renewal, an experience he translates in distinct but complementary approaches within a single show that ranges from beeswax to neon.