The Leaf and the Page July 13, 2009

'The Leaf and the Page' is a new exhibition at the Illinois State Museum, Springfield featuring eleven contemporary Illinois artists who draw their inspiration from nature and create distinct visions of fanciful, surreal, beautiful, ironic, and humorous plant images. Giant stainless steel plants, weeds made from trash, mushroom books growing out of the wall, and delicate stitched leaves are a few the delights to be seen in this exhibition. The artists do more than mimic the form of plants; they play with material and scale to illustrate the symbolic and metaphorical connection between humanity and the natural world.