‘Let Nature In’ | Exhibition | The Painting Center | Chelsea NYC

Installation view of Let Nature In at The Painting Center, featuring Colleen Hoffenbacker’s work.

Curated by Kathleen Beausoleil and Shazzi Thomas | The Painting Center, Chelsea, New York City

EXHIBITION DATES

Exhibition Dates: July 22 – August 16, 2025
Opening Reception: Thursday, July 24, 5 to 8 PM
Closing Reception: Saturday, August 16, 4 to 6 PM

Let Nature In: exhibition overview

Colleen Hoffenbacker is featured in Let Nature In, a group exhibition at The Painting Center in Chelsea, NYC, curated by Kathleen Beausoleil and Shazzi Thomas. Her mixed-media work appears alongside a diverse roster of contemporary artists who engage with the natural world through layered, interpretive approaches. The exhibition invites viewers to reflect on the evolving relationship between nature and creativity, offering works that breathe with organic resonance and metaphorical depth.

Colleen Hoffenbacker: Artistic Approach

Hoffenbacker is an imaginative realist painter whose vibrant floral compositions carry a subtly surreal edge, merging traditional techniques with enhanced digital tools that leverage AI. Her mixed-media practice embraces the intersection of technology and creativity, fostering new forms of collaboration, experimentation, and audience engagement. Her work in Let Nature In reflects this hybrid approach, contributing to the exhibition’s exploration of nature as both subject and catalyst.

EXHIBITION STATEMENT

“Let Nature In joins a timeless conversation—reinterpreting, challenging, and deepening our connection to the natural world.”

— Exhibition Statement, The Painting Center

ABOUT THE PAINTING CENTER

The Painting Center is a nonprofit gallery in Chelsea, New York, known for its artist-curated exhibitions and commitment to contemporary painting and mixed-media practices. Since 1993, it has served as a platform for rigorous, independent voices in visual art.

Let Nature In remains on view through August 16, 2025, inviting reflection, resonance, and renewed connection with the natural world.

ARTISTS

Curated by Kathleen Beausoleil and Shazzi Thomas, Let Nature In features over 50 contemporary artists whose work engages with the natural world — not as backdrop, but as collaborator, metaphor, and mirror.

Kevin Arnold, Charity Baker, George Barecca, Jess Bell, Linda Benson, Yana Beylinson, Catherine Bickford, Carly Bodnar, Holly Boruck, Liza Brenner, Domenica Brockman, Justin Brooks, Charis Carmichael Braun, William Carroll, Adam Crowley, Carol Elkovich, Claire Elliot, Rick Fox, Tony Girolo, Aaliyah Gupta, Kirstine Reiner Hansen, Mary Henderson, Colleen Hoffenbacker, Shiva Jlayer, Suzanne Laura Kammin, Will Kaplan, Kate Keery, Benjamin King, Sharon Lacey, Jo Anne Lobotsky, William Low, Megan Marden, Jessica Mongeon, James Mullen, Wiktoria Nedza, Colin O’Con, Jolene Powell, Mary Proenza, Naz Shahrokh, Sari Shryack, Anna Shukeylo, Susan Stillman, Joel Stoehr, Amily Stroud, Anna Teiche, Margery Thomas-Mueller, Leah Tomaino, Gillian Wainwright, Deborah Wasserman, Laura Wooten