Aimée Beaubien, the internationally exhibited artist who has established herself as an educator and peer in the Chicago art community, showcases her innovative techniques in Through the Hothouse. The installation transforms a 92-foot-long hallway into a green corridor by integrating elements such as plant matter, weaving, photographs, and 3D drawings. These elements symbolize the intricate interplay between ecological, social, and cultural dimensions within the vibrant creative community of the Art Center.

Since 2015, Beaubien has been creating a series of site-specific installations loosely centered on the concept of a hothouse—a deliberately hybrid environment designed to nurture rapid development. Expanding on the series, this exhibition will amaze audiences with Beaubien’s debut innovative technique of drawing on recently cut plant material (like tulips, sunflowers, and branches) with a 3D pen using PLA bioplastic filament. The result is a floating landscape of voluminous, brightly colored sculptures that preserve nature in an uncanny manner. The installation will immerse viewers in a rare garden of strange and enticing forms that remind us of the wonder typically only found outdoors.

“Photographs and plants are intricately interwoven throughout the fabric of my work. I map connections between contemporary life and the fragmented state of nature. In a world where nature is being increasingly depleted, I utilize the photographic medium’s capacity for infinite reproduction to envision a boundless propagation of plant life.” – Aimée Beaubien

Beaubien’s work challenges common assumptions about landscape and raises important questions about preservation, conservation, and care for green space within the built environment.

About Aimée Beaubien
Aimée Beaubien reorganizes photographic experience while exploring networks of meaning and association between the real and the ideal in immersive installations, collages and artists books. Her work has been shown in national and international exhibitions including SF Camerawork, San Francisco, CA; Art Institute of Chicago, IL; Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL; Newport Art Museum, RI; Houston Center for Photography, TX; UCR Museum of Photography, Riverside, CA; Gallery UNO Projektraum, Berlin, Germany; Virus Art Gallery, Rome, Italy. Aimée Beaubien is an Associate Professor of Photography at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL where she has taught since 1997.

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Tags: Aimee Beaubien, Aimée Beaubien: Through the Hothouse, Chicago, Hyde Park, Hyde Park Art Center