The Silva Gallery x Latela Curatorial is pleased to present Seed Scattering, a solo exhibition of new collage tapestries by Nicole Salimbene. The exhibition will be on view at The Silva DC at 1630 Columbia Rd NW, Washington, DC 20009 from October 16, 2023 through February 4, 2024 extended through February 25, 2024.

“Birds have been scattering seeds in me for a while now. They mysteriously arrive inside my home, make visitations outside my windows or come so close when I am in nature we could nearly touch. I am not a birder, but I find myself in places witnessing migratory patterns I never imagined. This year winged creatures entered my dreams. In that unconscious landscape, the seeds started to crack open. This work is the sprouting and hopefully seeding of a collective conversation with birds. It is my human response to their birdsong, to their planting.” - Nicole Salimbene

Bridging the seen and unseen, Salimbene engages a surrealistic approach to spiritual ecology. Composed of 11 contemporary collage tapestries - odes to medieval tapestries and bird encounters - this exhibition intersects the realms of relationality, mysticism, and materiality.

Salimbene sculpts her tapestries from receipts and repurposed magazine pages. She makes use of the papers’ previous contents and contexts while formulating her own visual poetics: alternately hiding and revealing content as she rolls and binds each page with wire.  

The first of many hidden messages in this body of work stems from the materiality itself as the pages used in the tapestries are from Artforum, the international contemporary art magazine. Within this context, Salimbene reflects on the tension of inclusion and exclusion embodied in the magazine and artworld. Threaded together, pages containing art criticism and exhibition advertisements transform the power dynamics of the traditionally male-dominated art market into the traditionally feminine craft of tapestries.

Paradoxically, the pages also contain the work of artists Salimbene loves and admires. Their work collaged into the tapestries serve as seeds – germinating the exchange of ideas and inspiration, an example of the interdependence among artists. The juxtaposition of image and text, at times both intentional and random, speaks to the historical context of tapestries as a textile art used for communication and storytelling.

The woven poetics of dreams, myths, memory, nature, and empathy in this work – and the source materials of Salimbene’s practice – come together to both commune and communicate curiosity and reflection on how as living beings – human and more-than-human – we are constantly seeding each other in our exchanges. Our interdependence with the more-than-human world is a reciprocal call and response – a birdsong of our collective consciousness calling us to cultivate the sacred and grow in stewardship with the Earth. 

Seed Scattering by Nicole Salimbene is on display at The Silva Gallery x Latela Curatorial October 16, 2023 – February 4, 2024 February 25, 2024 (extended date). Located at The Silva DC: 1630 Columbia Rd NW, Washington, DC 20009. Open Mon-Sat 10am-5pm and Sun noon-5pm. A public reception will be held for the artist on November 30, 2023 from 6-8pm (RSVP). All artwork displayed is available for purchase. Inquiries for art purchases should be directed to Latela Curatorial: studio@lateladc.com.

About the Gallery: 

The Silva Gallery x Latela Curatorial at the Silva provides additional exhibition opportunities and curated promotion to local artists in the Greater Washington, DC area. The art gallery, located in the building's reception area, is open to the public Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. through 5 p.m. and Sundays from noon until 5 p.m. For updates on exhibition openings and other art related events, visit here.

About the Artist:

Nicole Salimbene (b. Trinidad, CO) is an interdisciplinary artist working at the intersection of poetics, psychology, environmentalism and contemplative practice. Her art has been exhibited nationally and internationally and has been reproduced for publications and purchased for private collections. Her work has received recognition from The Art Newspaper, Washington Post, Al Tashkeel, Contemporary Identities International Art Magazine, The Smithsonian Art Museum Blog: Eye Level, and Sculpture Magazine. The Maryland State Arts Council granted her an Individual Artist Award in 2021 and in 2017 for Sculpture/Installation. She was awarded the Tom Rooney Prize in Washington Sculptors Group’s Sculpture Now 2012 exhibit and Second Place for the 2018 Trawick Prize. Additionally, she leads workshops in Opening to Your Creativity: Art as Contemplative Practice in affiliation with various social, spiritual, environmental, and academic communities.

Artist Statement:

“Working at the intersection of poetics, psychology, environmentalism and contemplative practice, my art aims to provoke self-inquiry and relationality toward an understanding of spiritual ecology. Taking a conceptual approach, I construct sculptures, works on paper and interactive installations that invite the embodiment of metaphors presented for reflection. Through form and idea, I search for the poetics of materiality and relationship, and the transformation that arises from wrestling with internal and external worlds. I am particularly drawn to the elegance and monumentality found in the ordinary and ephemeral.”

About Latela Curatorial:

Based in Washington DC with presence in Los Angeles, Barcelona and Milan, Latela Curatorial is an international art advisory and curatorial studio serving art collectors, design and corporate professionals, institutions, artists, and communities.

For all projects, LC's mission is to continuously question how support is defined in the artworld and to advocate on behalf of the artist and arts workers. LC's attitude is to nurture with a matriarchal approach: creating generative and sustainable opportunities for artists, collectors and communities alike.

About The Silva:

Developed by EastBanc and Mitsui Fudosan America, Inc. and managed by Bozzuto, The Silva features 172 thoughtfully designed apartments ranging from studios to two bedrooms, including 10 penthouse suites, making it the ideal home for residents looking to immerse themselves in the eclectic lifestyle of Adams Morgan while experiencing the best of high-end living. At The Silva, residents will find a rooftop terrace with sweeping views of the Capitol and the Washington Monument from the building’s infinity pool, a private courtyard with lush greenery, and within each unit, state-of-the-art appliances and acoustical design.

Prospective residents can learn more about the building and pre-leasing options by visiting www.thesilvadc.com.