Informed by Dr. Farbota’s experiences as both a neuroscientist and an environmental lawyer, “Rapid Evolution” probes our collective psychological response to the current environmental transition. Showcasing paintings that reject despair and explore how hardship can engender adaptive metamorphoses, this exhibition investigates the potential of embodiment as a vehicle for loss integration and explores the evolutionary possibilities of a nouveau-Cambrian explosion. Each piece draws on ancient mythical tradition, as semi-abstracted, life-scale female figures personify the Earth experiencing transmutation and guiding nature’s shifting reality. Experimenting with the ways in which realism can emerge from and through abstraction, these paintings of Earthly magic converge with the science of evolutionary acceleration. Driven by climate change, adaptive processes that often take millennia are now occurring on the order of decades. Snail shells have evolved from dark browns to pinks and yellows, absorbing less heat from the sun, and mostly-white tawny owls have become “tawnier,” blending into habitats now devoid of snow. These works explore the intersection of the scientific and the spiritual, as sirens and nymphs sublimate organic tragedy into triumph. _____ ABOUT KIM FARBOTA Kim Farbota (b. 1988, Chicago) is a painter working at the intersection of figuration and abstraction. A former PhD neuroscientist and environmental attorney, Farbota's transition to painting was catalyzed by a realization that the methodical, scientific lens was insufficient to capture the profound interconnectivity that exists between the workings of the physical universe and the subjective human experience.