Stockbridge — Berkshire Botanical Garden will display works by artist Peter Gerakaris in an exhibit entitled “Microcosms” at the garden’s Leonhardt Galleries until August 4.
Gerakaris, originally from Lebanon, N.H., creates paintings, origami sculptures, and art installations with a nature-related theme. He currently creates art from his studio in Cornwall, Conn. His work has been displayed internationally at various locations including the Museum of Arts and Design, the Hudson River Museum, the Bronx Museum, the National Museum of Wildlife Art, the Whatcom Museum, and the James Museum.
Gerakaris’ paintings, origami sculptures, and other creations featured in the exhibit are all based around a nature theme.
“Growing up, I usually self-describe myself as a ‘free-range child’ in New Hampshire off a spur of the Appalachian Trail,” Gerakaris told The Berkshire Edge. “My parents had moved back to the land after my father went to Dartmouth College [in Hanover, N.H.] in the late 1960s. At the time, I was walking down the Appalachian Trail to get back home where the school bus would drop me off. I had really taken it for granted until I moved to the gritty environments in Brooklyn, N.Y., and then Beijing, China for a residency.”
Gerakaris said that, when he lived in New York and China, he began to appreciate New England’s unique environment. “I felt so very disconnected from the natural world when I was in New York and then China,” Gerakaris said. “Whenever I’m back in nature, I feel more grounded and more at home than anywhere, wherever I am. I can meditate on nature through my artwork.”
Gerakaris said explained that, from his discussions with people over the years, he has found that people largely feel disconnected from the natural world. “The natural world is a source of beauty and joy,” Gerakaris said. “The more we connect to that, the better the chances are that we can preserve what we have in nature.”
Gerakaris added that he visited Berkshire Botanical Garden as a child.
Back in 2021, he created the “Spotted Owl Mosaic” art installation, which is still on display in the Vista Garden.
“If there was anything people could take away from my art, it would be to contemplate their own personal connection to the natural world,” he said. “I hope that it might inspire a reverence and wonder at the things that inspire the wonder in me: the flora and the fauna, the endangered species, and the threatened species and habitats of the planet.”
For more information about the Berkshire Botanical Garden and its programs, visit its website.
