Sound of Water: Feminine Expressions of Fluidity
Sturt Haaga Gallery
June 20, 2026–January 3, 2027
Yumiko Glover, Traces of Memory, 2023 (detail). Courtesy of the artist.
Emiko Aida, Reverie in the Sky, 2009 (detail). Courtesy of the artist.
Mineko Grimmer, Musical Vessels, 1993 (detail). Courtesy of the artist.
Water has long shaped life in Japan. As an island nation surrounded by the sea and nourished by abundant rainfall, Japan depends on water for its fertile landscapes and rich food sources.
Yet water can also be unpredictable, bringing floods, typhoons, and tsunamis. Not surprisingly, the Japanese have a complex relationship with water, which has inspired Japanese art and literature for centuries—from the famous haiku by Matsuo Bashō to the famous wave cresting off the coast of Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai.
In contemporary Japanese art, water continues to be a powerful theme. In East Asian philosophy, water is associated with yin, an element often linked with feminine energy—fluid, adaptable, and resilient.
Sound of Water features paintings, prints, and sculptures by six Japanese women artists: Emiko Aida, Miya Ando, Yumiko Glover, Mineko Grimmer, Margaret Yuko Kimura, and Ayomi Yoshida.
Their works explore water’s many moods and manifestations —serene and soft, yet also powerful and unpredictable—inviting us to consider our own relationship with this essential element as we face climatic extremes throughout the world.
The exhibition celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Japanese Garden at Descanso Gardens and is curated by Japanese art historian Meher McArthur.
Sound of Water: Feminine Expressions of Fluidity and its programs are generously funded, in part, by Perenchio Foundation, Pasadena Art Alliance, and an endowment from Heather Sturt Haaga and Paul G. Haaga, Jr.
The exhibition is open at the Sturt Haaga Gallery from June 20, 2026–January 3, 2027, 10am–4pm daily. Entry to the Sturt Haaga Gallery is included in the price of admission or membership.
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Journal of Therolinguistics
Boddy House
March 21–July 5, 2026
Nicole Brugger, Bork Bibliothek, 2022-25 (detail). Courtesy of the artist.
Marianne Hoffmeister Castro, A Study of Beaverness, 2020 (detail). Courtesy of the artist.
Alice Bucknell, Nightcrawlers, 2025 (detail). Courtesy of the artist.
This spring, the Boddy House at Descanso Gardens transforms into a living research center exploring the concept of non-human languages in nature through works by seven international artists.
Curated by Oscar Salguero, the exhibition Journal of Therolinguistics explores communication across species as acts of ecological kinship and fascination.
The exhibition invites visitors to immerse themselves in the expressive worlds of plants and animals. Experience birdsong as multicolor landscapes, deep listening sessions with plants, lichen bodies as ancient grammar, the worldbuilding narratives of beavers, bat and flower pollination role-play, and hidden messages carried in Amazonian trees or beetle-carved branches from Swiss forests.
Therolinguistics, a term coined by Ursula K. Le Guin in 1974, refers to a fictional field focused on understanding languages beyond the human.
Le Guin’s provocation remains urgent: rather than approaching communication in other species through human rules and limitations, the exhibition asks what it means to listen, learn, and encounter their worlds on their own terms.
Journal of Therolinguistics features international artists Aistė Ambrazevičiūtė, Alice Bucknell, Audax M. Gawler & Pri Bertucci, Lucio Arese, Marianne Hoffmeister Castro, Nicole Brugger, and Paige Emery. Together, their research explores the moving messages that plants and animals leave for us and how human actions affect their worlds.
Journal of Therolinguistics and its programs are generously funded, in part, by Perenchio Foundation and an endowment from Heather Sturt Haaga and Paul G. Haaga, Jr. The title of the exhibition is used with the kind permission of the Ursula K. Le Guin Literary Trust.
The exhibition is open at the Boddy House from March 21–July 5, 2026, 10am–4pm daily. Entry to the Boddy House is included in the price of admission or membership.
View the exhibition catalogue
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Natura Naturata: Nature’s Action
Sturt Haaga Gallery
January 24–May 31, 2026
Carolina Montejo, Earth Cosmos, 2016 (detail). Courtesy of the artist.
Luciana Abait, Ivy, 2009 (detail). Courtesy of the artist.
Rosana Schoijett, Descomposición, 2025. Courtesy of the artist.
Natura Naturata: Nature’s Action features the work of eight female artists who explore their bond with the natural world through contemporary photography and video.
By means of the conceptual and visual decomposition of natural elements, this diverse body of work delves into themes related to our connection with the environment, as well as complex examinations of human impact on nature.
The concept of “nature” has changed over the course of human history, shifting from “natura naturata” (passive matter) to “natura naturans” (self-generating matter).
Since their introduction, photography and video have significantly influenced the discussions around our evolving understanding of the organic world, intersecting with fields such as biology, philosophy, and art.
Natura Naturata: Nature’s Action is curated by Claudia Pretelin. Exhibiting artists include Luciana Abait, Laura Aguilar, Jackie Castillo, Maru García, Graciela Iturbide, Carolina Montejo, Tricia Rainwater, and Rosana Schoijett.
Natura Naturata: Nature’s Action and its programs are generously funded, in part, by Perenchio Foundation and an endowment from Heather Sturt Haaga and Paul G. Haaga, Jr.
The exhibition is open at the Sturt Haaga Gallery from January 24–May 31, 2026, 10am–4pm daily. Entry to the Gallery is included in the price of admission or membership.
Top photo: Tricia Rainwater, Untitled, 2020 (detail).
View the exhibition catalogue
Click here.
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