Terry Arena: Natural Capital  

Influenced by a concern for the environment, Terry Arena’s practice includes drawing, cut paper, sculpting, and weaving with non-traditional materials such as humanely sourced bee cadavers. At its core, the work explores the wonderment of the natural world and the counterpoint of technology through quiet, intimate pieces made with materials that have an inherent history or association. Theologian Abraham Joshua Heschel stated, "Indifference to the sublime wonder of living is the root of sin;" it is in response to this that the elemental approach in her work reflects simpler methodologies and examines a more direct and intimate relationship with our environment.

Arena's work, Natural Capital, delves into the commodification of the environment’s renewable and non-renewable natural resources. Her thought process revolves around the robust international food economy of the Central Coast and the flooding of farmlands that occurred from unusually heavy rains in 2023. Signifying the unsustainable nature of businesses operating in the “red”, and in competition with nature, she utilizes the complementary colors of red and green found in traditional finance ledgers. Fundamentally, the cut paper pieces recall the notion of destruction and creation as seen in the phenomena of the disappearance and resurgence of Lake Tulare. The quiet and repetitive nature of her works calls upon the viewer to examine closely, contemplating the long-term consequences of poor financial planning and resource exploitation.

Terry Arena received her Master of Fine Arts in Painting at the California State University, Northridge in 2009. Her work has been exhibited at the Long Beach Museum of Art, the Carnegie Art Museum in Oxnard, El Camino College in Torrance, and the Museum of Art and History. She has had three solo shows of her graphite still-life renderings at Sinclair College in Ohio, Thinkspace Gallery in California, and Antler Gallery in Oregon. Her work has been written about in digital and analog publications such as Art and Cake, Diversions LA, The Art Newspaper, Art scene, Fabrik, Entropy, and Artillery Magazine.