“Transient / Eternal” brings together artworks that reflect on the ephemeral nature of human memory and the natural environment. 

Included in the exhibition are two woven textiles by Maris Van Vlack that are inspired by the deterioration of historic mills nestled within the landscape. Her multi-process construction of layering mimics the process of decomposition and reintegration of history within the post-industrialized New England terrain. Natasha Harrison presents a large-scale suspended sculpture that gathers over two hundred and fifty flame-worked glass encapsulations of dried California poppies, flowers reminiscent of her grandmother. Annabel Manning also visualizes glimmering and fleeting moments within her pieces. Through digital processes, she subtly manipulates abstract photographs of her own body’s distorted reflections within the ebb and flow of sedimentary exchange on Sachuest Beach, and further, covertly plants tiny images of her crouched silhouetted form inside every bubble of foam. 

Natasha Harrison is a visual artist, organizer, and conservationist living and working in Newport. She is currently the Executive Director of the Newport Tree Conservancy in Newport, RI, and the former Executive Director, Norman Bird Sanctuary Middletown, RI. She was the Co-Founder and Director of Island Arts, an organization that served the Newport community for 16 years through two locations that included exhibition space, classrooms, darkroom, year round outreach programs for at-risk youth and countless art exhibitions and events. Her work has been exhibited throughout New England, including the Newport Art Museum, the Jamestown Arts Center, and Fuller Craft Museum. She holds a BFA in Glass from Rhode Island School of Design, and an MFA in Visual Art from Vermont College.

Maris Van Vlack is an interdisciplinary artist who works with textiles and painting to create tapestries inspired by landscapes and architecture. Growing up in Massachusetts surrounded by the rich history of the textile industry inspired her to learn how to weave. To gather inspiration, she travels around New England, sketching and photographing geological phenomena. She received a Textile BFA in 2023 from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) with a concentration in Drawing, and uses her work to play with the boundaries and intersections between weaving and drawing. Maris has exhibited in the USA and Europe, including shows at the U. S. Capitol Building (Washington, DC), NADA New York (New York, NY), the RISD Museum (Providence, RI), the Kennedy Center (Washington, DC), the Icelandic Textile Center (Blönduós, Iceland), and Superhouse (New York, NY). Her work has been published by the Boston Globe, Interior Design Magazine, Google Arts & Culture, Miami Living Weekly, and Warp + Weft Magazine.

Annabel Manning is a visual artist and educator based in Middletown, Rhode Island. Born in Mexico and also raised in Peru, Argentina, and the U.S. Annabel’s multicultural background informs her work and artistic approach. Previous to relocating to Rhode Island in 2020, Annabel worked as a social practice artist in New York City and Charlotte, NC, where she developed art and literacy programs for various communities, including undocumented immigrants, bilingual families, and incarcerated individuals. Her work has been showcased in solo and group exhibitions across the United States and internationally, including in Block Island, New York City, Charlotte, Durham, San Francisco, LA, Boston, Liverpool, and Germany.  She holds a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College, a B.F.A. in Painting and Video from the Massachusetts College of Art, and an M.F.A. in Experimental and Documentary Arts from Duke University. She currently teaches at the Newport Art Museum.