LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE, CA.- Descanso Gardens announces Daphne’s Wardrobe — Metamorphosis into Nature, an interdisciplinary exhibition of artworks that explore transformations of the body into nature. Opening at Descanso Gardens’ Sturt Haaga Gallery and Boddy House in March 2025, Daphne’s Wardrobe will include photography, sculpture, painting, works on paper, and wearable garments that draw on mythologic and folklore narratives to examine themes of metamorphosis. The exhibition opens on March 1 featuring walk-throughs with curator Carole Ann Klonarides at 2pm and 4pm.

The Daphne of the title is the virginal naiad, who metamorphosized into a laurel tree to escape Apollo’s sexual advances. Her soft skin turned into bark, her smooth hair grew into wild foliage, her delicate arms into branches, and her petite feet into long-reaching roots, making her forever embedded in the earth. As a tree and no longer the maiden she once was, Daphne is perpetually silenced and “speaks” through the rustling of leaves.

Klonarides has chosen works that explore ideas of identity, the feminine, and the symbolic role of trees, plants, and other organic forms that shed light on our often-overlooked connection to the natural world. Works by internationally known artists Valerie Hammond, Adelle Lutz, Elana Herzog, Melissa Meier, Wangechi Mutu, Vibeke Sorensen, Alison Saar, Rina Banerjee, Phyllis Green, Iris Yirei Hu, and Vera Lehndorff/Holger Trülzsch challenge us to rethink our deep connection to nature while also referencing the complex cultural histories—both constructive and destructive—that have shaped this relationship.

As curator Carole Ann Klonarides explains, “The transformation of Daphne has many representations in art and fashion throughout history. Today, this powerful, often referred to and, on occasion, debated myth might have Daphne change into a gynoid or an AI fantasy like in the film “Her.” The art in this exhibition leads us to find ourselves one with nature in a world dominated by machines and digital representations. “

Daphne’s Wardrobe—Metamorphosis into Nature is open at the Sturt Haaga Gallery from March 1–June 1, 2025, 10am–4pm daily. Entry to the Gallery and Boddy House is included in the price of admission or membership.

There will also be a series of special events tied to the exhibition throughout the spring.

Carole Ann Klonarides is a renowned contemporary art curator, educator, and writer. Known for her recent work on 0 Horizon—Art of the Forest Floor at the Sturt Haaga Gallery, she has held positions at the Santa Monica Museum of Art (now ICA LA) and the Long Beach Museum of Art. Since 2012, Klonarides has worked with artists as a career strategist. She teaches in the Humanities and Sciences Department at Art Center College of Art and Design in Pasadena, CA.