ArtSEA: Getting down to earth at art galleries around Seattle

Among this groundswell of Earth works is Seattle artist Katie Miller’s show Overburden at Vestibule gallery in Ballard (through Feb. 10; artist talk Feb. 10 at 1 p.m.). After digging into historic mining practices, including the 300 mines in Joshua Tree National Park, Miller created intricate glass mosaics that twist and turn as if heading down, down, down into the seams of the Earth. (See also a salt-encrusted “hole” that gapes on the gallery floor.)

They say “Dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return,” and the axiom comes alive in Edgeless Burial (at Gallery 4Culture through Feb. 29). Using colorful crushed flower petals, seeds and soil conditioner, Seattle artist Colleen RJC Bratton creates ethereal, flattened figures and chronicles them as they decay back into the ground. 

These eerie imprints call to mind both the ephemeral nature of our existence and the carbon footprint we make while we’re here. (Related: A new episode of Crosscut’s Human Elements series spotlights Katrina Spade, Seattle’s doyenne of human composting.)

And Why should our bodies end at the skin? asks Sara Jimenez in her new installation at Mad Art Studio (through March 28). The New York-based artist has built an immense “inverted volcano” at the center of the space, exploding with vibrant pink flames and black lava. 

Standing sentry near this geologic (fabric) font are several hot pink pedestals, on which Jimenez displays her melty ceramic vessels. Inspired by burial jars, these are adorned with images of her family members, animals from Filipino mythology and textile imprints of clothing her father and grandmother wore. 

Finally, see Kelly Akashi’s Encounters (at Henry Art Gallery through May 5), which includes a field of humble “folded earth” sculptures. Appearing soft as velvet, these undulating stacks of fired clay suggest an Earth altered by water and quakes — as well as by humans, who appear in the form of delicate bronze hands poised on top, holding small offerings of porcelain and glass.