Photo by Laura Dawe

Artist Statement

I grew up in rural Texas conversing with creeks and herons, snakes and trees.  My mother, raised as a field laborer in Lithuania, never lost her connection with animism. She taught through example that the natural world offers powerful guidance and is ready to teach us when we remember how to listen.

In my studio practice, I continue my intense, loving relationships with the more-than-human world. I call to rocks, ocean, spores and trees and ask, “What are we making today?” and allow the work to flow through me. Invariably, I am delighted and sometimes startled by our collaborations.  

My current work, The Chapel of Natural Intelligence, is an extended experiment in interspecies communication at a group level. In recent years there have been enormous breakthroughs in learning about Earth’s vast, networked intelligence.  These discoveries are critical; however, they aren’t always relational. That is, they often look at mycelial networks, tree families, and other reciprocal beings as beautiful models to emulate rather than wise beings who can guide us personally.  The Chapel asks us instead to remove observational distance and to engage in direct, vulnerable conversions with the other-than-human world.

I am driven by the conviction that our species has much to learn and we probably need to learn it quickly. We are surrounded by able teachers and together, we can remember how to hear.

For information and inquiries please send a note to: info at chuck-hildebrand dotcom

Bio

Chuck Hildebrand is an interdisciplinary artist. Her work is a series of experiments in collaborating directly with other-than-human beings. A large part of her practice includes“ephemeral sculptures,” short-lived pieces made in collaboration with more-than-human consciousness, which she documents with digital photographs. Her current project, The Chapel of Natural Intelligence, invites participants to explore thinking in a field with each other, and then extending that field to the natural world in search of wisdom, guidance, and opportunities for direct collaboration. 

She received her BA with a concentration in Studio Art from Williams College. Prior to beginning her formal arts practice she worked extensively in experience design research and systems strategy.

She also owned and operated an indigenous plant nursery + community bar + music venue in central Texas.