Earthlings

Earthlings is the final exhibition showcasing new artworks developed during an international artist residency at the Ionian Center for the Arts and Culture on the Greek island of Kefalonia in the Ionian Sea. Organized and curated by Natasha Faye Jensen and Patrick Moskwa, the residency brought together thirteen Canadian artists to investigate the intersections of art, ecology, and place on Kefalonia. The resulting exhibition at The New Gallery showcases photography, drawing, collage, sculpture, and botanical materials gathered through field research, considering landscapes as living archives where ecology, geology, history, and human intervention are deeply intertwined.

In June 2026, thirteen Canadian artists travelled to Kefalonia to explore the island's UNESCO Geopark and engage in conversations about climate change, ecological stewardship, and collective action. Through field research, site visits, workshops, and shared meals, the residency examined how artists can contribute to more sustainable models of community building while cultivating creative practices grounded in care, reciprocity, and environmental responsibility.

Working across the island, the artists visited significant ecological and cultural sites, including the Drogarati Cave, the Botanical Garden of Kefalonia, coastal wetlands, and Mediterranean shorelines. Together they explored endemic plant communities, collected seaweed along the Ionian coast to create dyes, processed pigments from local soils, and investigated the island's unique geological formations. These shared experiences became catalysts for new artistic research, inviting participants to engage directly with the material histories and ecological processes that shape the landscape.

The resulting works reflect on the interconnected relationships between people and the more-than-human world. They ask how geological time, botanical knowledge, relationship to space and collective care can inform new ways of understanding places and responding to environmental change. Rather than treating the landscape as a backdrop, Earthlings position it as an active collaborator, one that holds memory, resilience, and the potential for transformation.

Presented at The New Gallery, Earthlings invites audiences to consider how artistic practice can deepen ecological awareness through close observation, material experimentation, and acts of collective care. The exhibition creates a space to reflect on our shared responsibility to the environments we inhabit. Through opportunities for deep observation and connection, it invites audiences to imagine more sustainable ways of living, creating, and building community in the face of a rapidly changing climate.

Natasha Faye Jensen and Patrick Moskwa would like to thank Sophie Kagadis and Sophia Nanitsou at the Ionian Center for the Arts and Culture, Evi Matiatou from Cephalonia Botanica and Kefalonian Honey Michalatos for their generous support, knowledge and guidance.

The exhibition was generously supported by City of Calgary Micro Grant and The New Gallery.