Beth Dary Notions

Front Room Gallery is proud to present “Notions” a solo exhibition of new sculptural and mixed media works by New York-based artist Beth Dary. Through this immersive installation, Dary invites viewers to consider the delicate balance between humanity and the environment; how we shape nature, and how nature shapes us.

In Notions, Dary uses a range of materials—handblown glass, egg tempera, encaustic, steel wire, fabric, and florist pins to create forms that are both organic and industrial, fragile and resilient. Her work navigates the tensions and harmonies between the natural and the manufactured world, weaving personal history with ecological awareness.

Central to the exhibition is Time Passing, a striking installation of handblown glass bubbles encased in woven steel wire. This work evokes the metaphorical "bubble" we inhabit: sometimes a sanctuary, sometimes a constraint.

In Littoral Drift, delicate egg tempera drawings on encaustic-infused paper reflect shifting shorelines and the mutable beauty of wetlands facing climate change.

Queens, a sculptural work referencing both the borough and its namesake figures, intertwines political commentary with the symbolism of medicinal roadside weeds.

The exhibition’s title work, Notions, continues Dary’s longtime engagement with florist pins, a medium she began using in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Originally embedded in canvas to map flood damage and diaspora patterns, the pins have evolved in her practice to become structural and expressive elements in wall-mounted and kinetic sculptures. Once rendered in stark black and white, these pin-based works now embrace a vivid palette, marking a significant shift in Dary’s exploration of color, tension, and tactility.

“This work began as a response to trauma and displacement,” says Dary. “But over time, it’s grown into a meditation on resilience, on the quiet, often invisible strength that exists in both the natural world and the materials associated with domestic labor.”

Notions is both a culmination and a departure: a deepening of Dary’s ongoing thematic inquiries and a bold step into new aesthetic territory.

About the Artist
Beth Dary is a multidisciplinary artist whose work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. She has received fellowships and residencies from organizations such as The MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, The Bronx Museum AIM Program, and Dieu Donné Papermill. Dary’s work is held in both private and public collections and continues to explore the interplay of materiality, memory, and ecological awareness.