How can we have a playful, sensual and meaningful connection with nature, despite radical changes in our natural environment?
The exhibition Tread Lightly, My Earthly Eye is an artistic vision of our relationship with nature with a focus on creating hope for and attachment to nature, which will be presented in the Nordic Contemporary Art Center (NAC), in Xiamen, China in the spring of 2026.
Works by twelve Danish artists from a wide field within the photographic medium are brought together to unfold the theme. The exhibition is curated by Beate Cegielska and Galleri Image, who has many years of experience in presenting Danish artists internationally. The co-curator is visual artist and MA in Visual Culture Kirstine Autzen. In conjunction with the exhibition, we will also have a program of events consisting of talks and performances.
The artists are Astrid Kruse Jensen, Emil Ryge Christoffersen, Helene Nymann, Kirstine Autzen, Kristoffer Ørum, Lotte Fløe Christensen, Maja Ingerslev, Nanna Debois Buhl, Nicolai Howalt, Sara Aue Sobol, Ulrik Hasemann & Mathias Svold.
Tread Lightly, My Earthly Eye presents 12 Danish artists’ work relating to the longstanding Nordic tradition of depicting nature and landscapes and to our current reality.
Today, the interaction we humans have with nature is complicated and fraught with guilt. We are increasingly aware that we have created difficult conditions for both ourselves and the rest of the ecosystem. Consequently, our very perception of what ‘nature’ is is changing. However, it is exceedingly important that our work to repair the damage is borne of hope and a joy in interacting with nature: forest, plants, sea, wildlife – even microorganisms and fungi. We must continue to engage and connect with all of this.
The exhibition Tread Lightly, My Earthly Eye examines how we, through the magic of sight, the senses, interaction, play and experimentation, can enter into a joyful, but not naive or nostalgic, connection with the nature we are surrounded by – or should we say: that we surround. The exhibition mixes classic documentary methods with poetic links to science and technology and showcases a wide range of artistic strategies.
The exhibition even searches for ‘nature’ outside the usual places. In addition to the sea and the forest, the artists also look for nature in the city’s plants and in the longings and imaginations of our daily lives.
The exhibition is supported by the S.C. Van Foundation
Photo credit (above): Cloud Behavior (2018), Nanna Debois Buhl.
Photo credit (preview): Archepelago, Kristoffer Ørum.
