The HUB-Robeson Galleries are excited to announce the upcoming exhibition “Feral Botanica” by artist Hidenori Ishii, a visual artist who explores the social and environmental landscape through a fusion of art historical connections, personal narratives, and socio-political themes. His work encompasses paintings, prints, and installations that investigate the paradoxical dichotomy of civilization and nature, revealing their interdependence. “Feral Botanica” will be on view in the HUB Gallery from June 5, 2026, to October 31, 2026. Gallery hours are 10 am – 6 pm daily. An artist reception and public conversation will be announced in the Fall of 2026. All are welcome to attend.

Central to “Feral Botanica” is Ishii's invitation for visitors to embark on a transformative spatial journey that transcends the boundaries of fictional nature and urban landscapes in the digital era. It culminates in an intimate reflection on the complexities of urban transformation and the nuanced relationship between community and environment, encouraging engagement during a time of uncertainty.

The exhibition features works from Ishii’s “OTF-SL” series, evoking a speculative botanical environment that conjures an imagined garden. Fruits and vegetation emerge within pictorial fields shaped by reflections and fluid movements of water. This environment acts as a ‘quiet front yard’—an urban botanica defined by green construction barricades that subtly hint at human activity and transformation. Embedded within this installation is a diamond-shaped, translucent plexiglass window adorned with the artist’s gold “tagging,” a nod to a guerrilla art project in NYC since 2020. This aperture offers viewers a glimpse not of a construction site, but rather of the reflections of the “MIRЯOR” works against the backdrop of the green campus, reframing perception through layered reflections.

As visitors circulate to the reverse side of the installation, they encounter a narrow passage where large-scale, lens-like mirrors are positioned against expansive windows. This compressed liminal space invites introspection and quiet contemplation, blurring the lines between interior and exterior while facilitating moments of self-reflection.

The exhibition’s thematic underpinnings engage various dualities, such as man-made versus organic processes, depiction versus reflection, and abstraction versus representation.