Georgetown Exhibition Unearths the Power of Tiny Plants

How can a flower almost too small for the naked eye to perceive be a keeper of cultural memory and a testament to environmental resilience? Iranian artist Nahal Entezam Nia explores this question in "Herbal Echoes: Botanical Art from Persia," a multisensory experience at SlipStitch Studio that blends biology and art and encourages its audience to pay attention to the little things.

It should come as no surprise that Nia's first solo exhibition takes place at SlipStitch Studio. A small but airy space nestled in Georgetown, the studio has as mission to view art as "a shared civic asset — accessible to neighbors and sustainable to artists," according to its website. Co-founders Devon Dunham and Otto Chan want to showcase and eventually represent emerging artists from AA&NH/PI, LGBTQIA+, and other underrepresented communities. "We cut our teeth in Pioneer Square," Dunham shared, "but Georgetown is a much better fit. We feel rooted in the community and want to build an ecosystem for artists to share their work here and sustainably make a living."

Nia is all about sustainability. She has a working background in architecture, with an interest in biomimicry, which involves studying nature's evolutionary designs, strategies, and processes to innovate human technology. "Though I work in architecture, I have always done art," she said in a phone interview.

The seeds for "Herbal Echoes" were planted by Nia's late friend, who gathered information from academic institutions about native Iranian flora. Nia had another acquaintance, who works in biology, and they decided to pay homage to their friend who passed away by transforming her work into a digital archive. "What I learned is that many of these plants have medicinal properties, and they are not just in Iran. They're all over the world because they evolved into different environments — kind of like immigrants, they adapt."

She continued, "I had these two friends in biology, but I had never really felt connected to plants." But as she created the digital archive, Nia decided to take an artistic approach to her study of the Persian flora. "Herbal Echoes" is the realization of her late friend's work through herbarium scans, sculpture, painting, drawing, and tactile display.

Visitors to SlipStitch will encounter a range of media. Nia doesn't have a favorite, but she loves to use colors. "I don't hesitate to use colors," she said of her work. "All mediums have their challenges. I just like to experiment and examine all the possibilities."

"Herbal Echoes" examines plants as memory keepers, not just in relation to her late friend but as markers of their own resilience across history and place. The tactile displays — seeds, pods, and palm tree bark from Arizona, California, Seattle, and, of course, Iran — represent a connection to the world, show how we interact with and relate to it, and ask what we can learn from biomimicry, specifically by studying tiny plants that have survived and regenerated despite harsh environmental conditions.

Along with touch, Nia found it important to involve olfactory senses in her show. "I learned about a company that produced essential oils … so there is a scent diffuser along with the [tactile portion]. I made sure [the scents] originated from plants that are found in Persia."

The artist's consideration for environmental sustainability is woven through the details of the exhibit. For example, in her sculpture "Harbinger of Light," she uses waste materials like scrap CDs and DVDs. She explained, "I manipulated this material over hours [for the sculpture], because even recycling uses too much energy."

Nia's work implores viewers, especially youth, to be more connected to the environment in a world where most are glued to their phones. "My message to society?" she said. "Explore beauty and miracles in your environment. The shape of [plants] have extraordinary beauty. You know, animals are more obvious when they face extinction, but plants are disappearing in silence, and people don't notice it at all. A lot of the plants [in the exhibit] are tiny in size and sometimes go unnoticed. I want to encourage people to see, not just watch things."

With her first solo show not even behind her, the emerging artist already has ideas for her next exhibition, one she says will have more of an architectural focus and delve deeper into her interest in biomimicry. One thing is clear: As a multimedia artist, Nia is just beginning to bloom.

"Herbal Echoes: Botanical Art from Persia" is on display at SlipStitch Studio, 6107 13th Ave. S., through Oct. 3.