Of the Earth

Five large-scale sculptures by Polish-American artist Olga Ziemska will be created exclusively for a new exhibition at The Morton Arboretum, Of the Earth, opening May 26, 2023.

The exhibition will explore the artist’s expression and philosophy that, she says, “We are nature.” Ziemska said that her aim is to remind people that “everything in life is derived from the same basic elements that form everything in nature, including ourselves. There is no separation.” In Polish, Ziemska means “of the earth.”

The artist’s work will be created from reclaimed tree branches and other natural materials gathered from various locations throughout the Arboretum’s 1,700 acres. “I am giving reclaimed natural materials a new life and transforming them from nature into new forms,” Ziemska said.

This will be the largest exhibition to date for Ziemska, who lives and works in Cleveland, Ohio. Ziemska has exhibited and created public installations in Poland, Taiwan, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, and other locations globally in a career spanning more than 20 years. Her work entwines and melds the human body with other natural forms, which she notes, “reminds us of our own physicality of seamless connection to the earth and nature.”

The Arboretum’s tree-filled landscapes inspired Ziemska because areas of the Arboretum remind her of the landscapes of Poland, where she previously lived and the majority of her family remains. She has built her career in the male-dominated sculpture world, exploring her multiple identities as a first-generation child of immigrants, an American, an artist, a woman, and a human.

The exhibition will run through spring 2025.

The Arboretum’s current exhibition, Human+Nature, will officially close at the end of February 2023, while some of the eight sculptures by artist Daniel Popper will still be on view into March. The sculptures may be exhibited elsewhere by Popper, with those details yet to be determined by the artist.

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About The Morton Arboretum 
The Morton Arboretum is an internationally recognized tree-focused botanical garden and scientific research center near Chicago in Lisle, Illinois. Its 1,700 acres include specialty tree and plant collections, 9 miles of roads and 16 miles of hiking trails, a Children’s Garden, a 2-acre Grand Garden, educational programs and a Visitor Center. Information about exhibitions, events and admission is available at mortonarb.org.

About Olga Ziemska
Olga Ziemska is a sculptor and artist who lives and works in Cleveland, Ohio. She has had residencies with the Centre of Polish Sculpture in Poland, YATOO International in Korea, RespirArt Sculpture Park in the Dolomite Mountains of Italy and the Taoyuan Land Art Festival in Taiwan. Among her prestigious grants and awards were a Fulbright Fellowship and a Creative Workforce Fellowship. In 2007, Ziemska was selected as a Wendy L. Moore Emerging Artist by the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland. Ziemska was selected by Ohio Arts Council’s Riffe Gallery as a 2018 Woman Artist to Watch. She is a graduate of the Columbus College of Art & Design and an alumnus of the Rhode Island School of Design. For more information, see the Arboretum’s website at mortonarb.org.