Note: the following is part of Glasstire’s series of short videos, Five-Minute Tours, for which commercial galleries, museums, nonprofits, and artist-run spaces across the state of Texas send us video walk-throughs of their current exhibitions. Let’s get your show in front of an audience.
See other Five-Minute Tours here.
Via Throughline:
“Triage is an exhibition of cross disciplinary art that looks at our environment as a living entity, composed of interconnected organisms that thrive, evolve, and suffer trauma, as humans do. Through installation, video, drawing, embroidery, and interactive projects, artists Ellen H. Ray and Heather L. Johnson celebrate the resilience of non-human life while reflecting on consequences of environmental damage and our urgent need for deeper connections to the nonhuman world. As both artists question dichotomies emerging from our reliance on climate-compromising technology, they amplify hope offered in the persistence and tenacity of nature.
Heather L. Johnson combines embroidery, drawing, found materials, and video installation to reflect on her own attractions, repulsions, and desires – many of the same motivations responsible for ecological destruction. For her Brio Memory Project, Johnson collects stories from persons affected by toxic waste to call attention to trauma experienced by individuals, communities and the landscape itself. While Johnson’s work has exhibited internationally, she is best known for In Search of the Frightening and Beautiful, a solo motorcycle journey and art-gifting venture for which she traveled throughout the Americas. Recent accolades include piloting Grand Canyon National Park’s current Artist Residency program (2021); inclusion in the Texas Biennial through the DiverseWorks exhibition River on Fire (Houston, 2024); and a Support for Artists and Creative Individuals Grant, funded by the City of Houston (2025). Johnson currently resides in Houston, TX.
Ellen H. Ray views her life practice of meditation and art making as a study on genetic and spiritual connection. Utilizing drawing, painting, sculpture, video installation, and other media, Ray references the physical and spiritual in our world. Her detailed drawings are inspired by intelligent design seen in nature; energies perceived in meditation, vibration patterns, and more. Recent exhibitions include Solastalgia at San Jacinto College South, Artist Made, Artist Organized, at FotoFest, and multiple solo and small group shows throughout Texas. Her work is included in the Baylor College of Medicine Collection and in many national and international private collections. She is a Glassell School of Art MFAH, BLOCK Alum (cohort XIX and XX), Wendy Wagner Foundation finalist (2024), ArtPace Residency finalist (2023), and was selected for the Atelier Haus Residency in Hilmsen, Germany, culminating in an exhibition at the Mönchskirche Museum in Salzwedel, Germany. She lives, works, and meditates in Houston, Texas.”
Video by Beatriz Bellorín.
